Macquarie starts coverage of crypto miners

Macquarie initiated coverage on several key cryptocurrency mining companies, including Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ), CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK), Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), and Cipher Mining (NASDAQ: CIFR), assigning Outperform ratings to all.

This complements their existing coverage of Iris Energy (NASDAQ: IREN).

Macquarie said in a note to clients that the companies are well-positioned to benefit from the evolving digital asset landscape, especially as they diversify their operations to include AI and high-performance computing (HPC).

The firm highlighted two distinct strategies within the crypto-mining sector.

One approach involves miners capitalizing on their access to power infrastructure by diversifying into hosting for non-crypto-related services, such as AI clients.

However, they note that some miners prefer to stay focused on accumulating Bitcoin, betting on bullish price forecasts.

In most cases though, growth mining capacity, and/or land/GPU acquisition for HPC/AI, is being achieved via dilutive equity issuance," Macquarie noted.

Macquarie said Core Scientific (CORZ) and Iris Energy (IREN) stand out for their early adoption of AI-related hosting, with Core Scientific leading through a hosting deal with CoreWeave, which positions it well in the growing demand for AI compute infrastructure.

This is seen as a potential catalyst for significant growth.

Cipher Mining (CIFR) is noted for hitting its stride with the completion of its Odessa site and new announcements supporting both Bitcoin mining and HPC. Macquarie believes Cipher's focus on power efficiency and scaling positions it for a near-term inflection in profitability, assigning a $6 target price.

The firm said Riot Platforms (RIOT) continues to lead in Bitcoin cooling technology, particularly with its vertically integrated operations that include power and infrastructure management.

Macquarie has set a $15 target price for Riot, recognizing its potential for operational efficiency.

Finally, Marathon Digital (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) are recognized for their broad exposure to the Bitcoin infrastructure and acquisition strategies, with target prices of $22 and $20, respectively.

By Sam Boughedda

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