Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) has updated its forecasts and price targets for Bitcoin (BTC) miners based on fourth-quarter 2024 results, as well as fluctuations in Bitcoin prices and network hashrate.

JPMorgan upgraded IREN (IREN), its top pick in the space, to outperform 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), while cutting their price targets to $13 and $12, respectively. Riot shares fell 0.5% to $7.82, while CleanSpark rose 0.6% to $8.15.

The neutral rating for MARA Holdings (MARA) was affirmed, while the target price for the company was cut to $18 from $23. The shares rose 0.5% to $13.14.

Miner price targets fell by 19-29%, reflecting a 10% drop in the bank's estimated Bitcoin price and an 80% increase in the network's hashrate growth estimate.

The report highlighted that the total market capitalization of the five mining stocks the bank tracks 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 than expected to materialise and economic conditions in the mining industry worsened, the bank said.

The report also said the decline in these stocks represents an attractive opportunity for investors.

Read more: Bitcoin Mining Economy Weakens in February: JPMorgan

Source: cryptonews.net