Bitcoin Miner IREN Upgraded to 'Overweight', Cipher Mining Downgraded to 'Neutral': JPMorgan
Will Canny | Edited by Steven Alpher on 13 March 2025, 13:47 UTC
Key points:
- JPMorgan lowered its price targets for Bitcoin miners in its report by 19%-29%.
- The bank upgraded IREN from neutral to outperform and downgraded Cipher Mining from outperform to neutral.
- The organization reiterated its Outperform ratings on Riot Platforms and CleanSpark, as well as its Neutral recommendation on MARA Holdings.
Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) has updated its price targets and valuations for Bitcoin (BTC) miners beyond the fourth quarter of 2024, taking into account changes in Bitcoin's price and network hashrate.
The bank upgraded IREN (IREN), its top pick in the space, to Overweight from Neutral and cut its price target to $12 from $15. Shares were up 2.7% in early trading at $7.23.
Cipher Mining (CIFR) was downgraded to neutral from outperform and the bank removed its $8 price target. Shares fell 3% to $3.10.
The bank reiterated its outperform ratings on Riot Platforms (RIOT) and CleanSpark (CLSK), cutting their price targets to $13 and $12, respectively. Riot fell 0.5% to $7.82. CleanSpark rose 0.6% to $8.15.
MARA Holdings (MARA) was also affirmed as neutral, with the target price cut to $18 from $23. Shares rose 0.5% to $13.14.
Miner price targets were cut by 19-29%, representing a 10% reduction in the bank's estimated Bitcoin price and an 80% increase in the network's hashrate growth estimate.
The report notes that the total market capitalization of the five mining stocks tracked by the bank has fallen more than 20% since the start of the year, while the price of Bitcoin has fallen 11%.
Mining stocks came under pressure as high-performance computing (HPC) deals took longer to materialize than expected and mining industry economics worsened, the bank said in a report.
The document also mentions that the decline in these shares represents an attractive opportunity for investors.
Read more: Bitcoin Mining Economy Weakens in February: JPMorgan
