Karla Barker 
Wall Street broker Benchmark has nearly doubled its price target on Hut 8 to $165 from $85, signaling that the company’s pivot toward artificial intelligence infrastructure is starting to reshape how investors value the bitcoin miner. The new target implies roughly 65% upside from Hut 8’s current trading price near $100.
Analyst Mark Palmer reiterated his buy rating on the stock, arguing that the market has so far failed to fully price in the company’s rapid execution. Hut 8 shares have fallen nearly 30% over the past six weeks, despite what Benchmark described as strong operating momentum. Palmer said in a Tuesday report that the price target increase reflects the expected contribution from Hut 8’s Beacon Point AI data center campus, which he called the second and larger of its two commercialized hyperscale projects.
A shift from bitcoin mining to AI
Bitcoin miners are increasingly expanding beyond their core business into AI and high-performance computing, hoping to capture surging demand for data center capacity as bitcoin mining margins become more volatile. Companies like Hut 8, Core Scientific, Hive Digital and Bit Digital have repositioned portions of their power and infrastructure assets to serve AI workloads. The bet is that long-term contracts with hyperscale customers will provide steadier, higher-margin revenue than cryptocurrency mining alone.
Hut 8 has signed two 15-year, triple-net, take-or-pay leases covering 597 megawatts of IT capacity at its River Bend, Louisiana, and Beacon Point, Texas, campuses. According to Palmer, the agreements represent $16.8 billion in contracted base-term lease value and could rise to $42.8 billion if tenants choose to exercise renewal options. He said the Beacon Point agreement was the main driver behind the higher valuation. The broker estimates that the first phase alone carries $9.8 billion in base-term contract value and about $655 million in average annual net operating income.
Financing strategy and future pipeline
Palmer also pointed to Hut 8’s financing approach. The company recently completed $4.25 billion in investment-grade project financing for Beacon Point, after raising $3.25 billion for River Bend. These deals, he said, validate management’s strategy of lowering its cost of capital by converting development assets into long-term contracted cash flows.
Beyond its existing projects, the report highlighted Hut 8’s development pipeline, which totals more than 9 gigawatts across projects under exclusivity, development, construction and management. This pipeline, Palmer noted, provides a long runway for future growth. Still, some caution is warranted. The market has been slow to adjust to Hut 8’s transformation, and the stock’s recent decline suggests that not all investors are convinced yet. But Benchmark’s revised price target is a strong vote of confidence in the company’s ability to execute its AI-focused strategy.