Investment bank Benchmark has significantly raised its price target for Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure company Hut 8 Corp. (HUT) to $165 from $85, driven by the commercialization of its Beacon Point AI data center campus and a pair of large-scale AI infrastructure lease agreements. The new target, detailed in a client note, suggests roughly 69% upside from the stock’s trading price of around $97 at the time of the report.
Key driver: Beacon Point and lease contracts
Analyst Mark Palmer emphasized that the 1,000 MW Beacon Point campus in Texas “changes the math” for Hut 8. The site was originally designed for ASIC-based Bitcoin mining but has been repositioned for AI workloads. Phase 1 was redesigned to support 352 MW of IT capacity—a 57% increase over the initial 224 MW plan. The base-term value of the Phase 1 lease stands at $9.8 billion, with expected average annualized net operating income of approximately $655 million.
Combined with the $7 billion River Bend lease, backed by Fluidstack and a Google backstop, the two contracts bring Hut 8’s total base-term lease value to $16.8 billion. If tenants exercise embedded five-year renewal options, that figure could climb to $42.8 billion.
Bitcoin holdings and broader platform
Palmer’s sum-of-the-parts valuation also incorporates Hut 8’s 60% ownership stake in American Bitcoin Corp. and its holding of 10,667 BTC as of March 31. The company’s development platform spans 9,085 MW across projects under exclusivity, development, construction, management, and diligence, with 1,680 MW under exclusivity and 830 MW under construction.
Q2 outlook and recent stock performance
Despite the strong operational momentum, Hut 8’s share price has fallen nearly 30% over the six weeks prior to the note. Palmer cautioned that second-quarter financial results (scheduled for August 4) are likely to be “messy” because of mark-to-market accounting on its Bitcoin holdings—a pattern seen in Q1, when revenue tripled to $71 million but the company posted a $253.1 million net loss, largely due to $295.7 million in digital asset losses and $50.9 million in stock-based compensation.
