‘Data Center Power Crises on the Horizon': JMP Says These 3 Bitcoin Mining Stocks Could Help Save the Day

Yahoo

30-05-2025

The AI boom, bitcoin mining, and electrical power capacity – all three generate headlines, for seemingly unrelated reasons, but the next few years will see them come together in previously unexpected ways.
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AI brings with it enormously expanded data centers that are notorious for increased electrical power needs. Bitcoin mining is based in data centers, and its support structure was built with power sourcing – grid connections and dedicated generation – already in mind. But the cryptocurrency sector is notoriously volatile, and often finds itself with excess data center capacity – and a need for stable revenue streams.
The three-way intersection is clear: bitcoin miners, with their combination of data center and power capacity, may be capable of stepping in and providing support for AI in the coming years.
In a note from JMP, analyst Greg Miller lays out the details: 'Critical power shortage on horizon – blockchain-focused companies are uniquely positioned. With the latest Nvidia Blackwell chip being configured at 60-120kW per rack, compared to the H100-200 at 25-45kW, and legacy chipsets at 8kW per rack, and with the anticipated launch of the Rubin chip in 2026, we anticipate power shortages that could easily exceed 40GW. With the ability to leverage existing deployments of low-cost/high-density power configurations currently present for bitcoin mining or hosting, we believe these companies are uniquely situated to provide additional space and power for data centers.'
'We think more than 5GW of incremental capacity could be provided, creating $20+ billion of potential incremental equity value (net of investment), compared with the current aggregate market capitalization of ~$ 9.0 billion.' Miller added.
Miller goes on to recommend three bitcoin mining stocks that can help save the day – and bring benefits to investors as they do so. According to the TipRanks platform, all three get Strong Buy consensus ratings from the Street; let's give them a closer look and find out what else makes them compelling choices in today's environment.
Hut 8 Mining (HUT)
We'll start with Hut 8, a Miami, Florida-based company that describes itself as much more than just a bitcoin miner. Hut 8 has its hands in multiple pots, including energy infrastructure, server hosting, managed services, and data center operations. The company's arena of operations is North America, where its activities include ten sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas for bitcoin mining, hosting, and managed services; another five sites in British Columbia and Ontario for high-performance computing, four Ontario-based power generation projects, and another recently announced site in the Texas Panhandle region.
Hut 8 may have started out as a crypto miner, but the company's current operational portfolio shows that it has expanded well beyond that. The company offers the infrastructure that today's high demands require: data servers capable of supporting cloud services and high-performance computing, and the power base to support these activities. Overall, Hut 8 has 1,020 megawatts of energy capacity under its management.
The company's current capabilities provide a strong case for Hut 8's success – but its real strength lies in its potential – and the reserves it has to realize that potential. Hut 8's development pipeline has approximately 10,800 megawatts of additional energy capacity, and as of March 31 this year, includes some 2,600 megawatts that are under exclusivity. Hut 8 also has deep pockets to support this pipeline – the company's strategic bitcoin reserve, as of March 31, stood at 10,264 bitcoins, which at current prices have a value of more than $1.11 billion.
In its financial report for 1Q25, Hut 8's total revenue came to $21.8 million, down from $51.7 million the year before, primarily due to scheduled fleet upgrades that required downtime and the April 2024 Bitcoin halving, which led to greater network difficulty. That said, the revenue breakdown shows how Hut 8 is diversifying its income – the company generated $4.4 million from power generation and managed services, $1.3 million from CPU colocation, and $16.1 million from bitcoin mining, GPUaaS, and data center cloud operations. At the bottom-line, EPS of -$1.30 beat the Street's -$1.40 forecast.
JMP's Greg Miller, in his write-up on Hut 8, notes both the diverse operations and the company's potential to expand them, writing, 'While initially focused on the high-performance compute segment of the data center industry (initially for machine learning), we can envision multiple use cases for its expertise over time. We expect Hut 8's total Megawatts deployed could reach more than 12GW in the coming five years with a significant power pipeline of 10.8GW today. We estimate that approximately ~37.5% of the capacity under exclusivity and ~8% (conservative) of the capacity under diligence (~1.4GW gross) could be used for HPC and translate to more than $1.6 billion of annual recurring revenue with EBITDA margins much higher than its legacy bitcoin mining operations. We believe it could translate into ~$74.00 of incremental value for existing shareholders over an extended time period.'
Looking ahead, Miller explains why he is bullish on HUT, saying, 'As the mix of business begins to favor powering digital infrastructure for applications other than bitcoin mining, we expect its valuation multiple will expand to reflect the success of its transition.'
These comments support Miller's Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating here, and his $25 price target implies a one-year upside potential of 48%. (To watch Miller's track record, click here)
The Strong Buy consensus rating on Hut 8 is unanimous, based on 14 recent positive recommendations. The stock is trading for $16.90 and its $25.57 average target price points toward a one-year gain of 51%. (See HUT stock forecast)
Core Scientific (CORZ)
Next on our list is Core Scientific, a company that started as a bitcoin miner and now offers high-density colocation services as well. To back up its high-tech operations, Core Scientific has built up a state-of-the-art infrastructure, including optimized power systems, advanced cooling, and thermal management. These are all essential systems in the data center industry. Core Scientific's expertise gives the company a competitive advantage in making its data centers available for high-performance computing customers.
Core Scientific has more than 1,300 megawatts of power capacity, contracted and available for rapid deployment, an important asset when marketing data centers for use in high-density computing. The company's combination of HPC and AI-capable infrastructure allows users to develop solutions at any scale. Core Scientific's scalable data center infrastructure has found applications in a wide range of industries, including AI and machine learning, cloud computing, financial services, media and entertainment, government – and that's the start of the list.
The company's expansion of its hosted mining and colocation services is helping to offset a sharp decline in self-mining revenue. Core Scientific reported $79.5 million in revenue for 1Q25, down 55% year-over-year and missing the forecast by $5.68 million. The main driver of the decline was an $82.8 million decrease in self-mining revenue. That decrease was attributed to reduced bitcoin mining since the halving, as well as the shift in operations toward colocation.
The company's quarterly revenue total included $67.2 million from self-mining operations, $3.8 million from hosted mining, and $8.6 million from colocation. Core Scientific's earnings in the quarter came to $1.25 per share, a sharp increase from the 78-cent EPS reported in 1Q24 and $1.37 better than had been expected. The company finished the quarter with $778.6 million in cash and other available assets.
Checking in again with Miller, we find that he starts with this company's power capabilities, and then shows how it can fuel a sound business model. Miller says of the firm's potential, 'Core Scientific possesses a power load capable of adding significant shareholder value. With 1.3GW of contracted power capacity in its existing markets, Core Scientific harbors the ability to allocate up to 900MW of power capacity to its new high-performance computing business model while reserving 400MW of capacity for its Bitcoin mining operation. We believe its HPC business alone (1.6GW pipeline) could be worth $48.00+ per CORZ share over time, if and when it is fully deployed.'
Getting down to the details, Miller explains how Core Scientific's strength is well grounded, adding, 'With EV/EBITDA on 2027E of ~8.0x, the stock is currently carrying the valuation of a bitcoin miner without a rapidly developing HPC business with commitments for $10 billion in overall revenues. While execution risks abound for a bitcoin miner turned scaled data center, we believe the risk/reward favors our Market Outperform rating.'
That Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating comes along with a $15 price target that indicates room for a 33% upside potential on the one-year horizon.
This stock's Strong Buy consensus rating is based on 14 unanimously positive analyst reviews. CORZ shares have a current trading price of $11.28, and the $17.79 average target price implies that the stock will appreciate by 58% over the next year. (See CORZ stock forecast)
TeraWulf (WULF)
Last up is TeraWulf. Like the firms detailed above, TeraWulf is both a bitcoin miner and a data center/high-performance computing infrastructure company. The firm develops, builds, and operates top-quality infrastructure that can fill the space between the needs of today's most innovative computer technologies and the supply of sustainable energy.
Currently, TeraWulf has 245 megawatts of operational capacity in its bitcoin mining and other data-intensive operations. The company operates these at low cost, and has realized industry-leading power rates as low as 4.5 cents per kWh. In line with its commitment to taking a sustainability-first approach to power generation, the company prioritizes zero-carbon energy sources.
Supplementing its mining business, TeraWulf has made available data centers that it describes as purpose-built and future-ready. The company's data center facilities feature prime locations, with access to low-cost and sustainable power; reliability, secured by redundant 100 GB fiber access and connections to dual 345 kV transmission lines for built-in back-up power; as well as enhanced compliance with physical and digital security standards.
The company's chief bitcoin mining operations are based in New York State, at its Lake Mariner data center facility. TeraWulf has been expanding this facility, and at the end of 1Q25 and the beginning of 2Q25, the company energized the site's Building 5, a move that brought the total capacity to 245 megawatts. Long-term, the Lake Mariner site has 750 megawatts of infrastructure capacity.
In its 1Q25 financial release, TeraWulf reported that it had increased its self-mining capacity to 12.2 EH/s, for a 52.5% year-over-year bump. The company's revenue and earnings fell year-over-year, however. Revenue dropped 18.9% year-over-year to $34.4 million, and missed the forecast by $6.84 million; earnings came in at a loss of 16 cents per share, deeper than the 3-cent loss reported in 1Q24 and 9 cents per share below expectations.
JMP's Miller notes that TeraWulf is transitioning from a bitcoin-mining-centered model to a more data-center-provider model, and sees potential for strength in the switch, writing, 'While historically a bitcoin miner, TeraWulf has begun to utilize its power expertise combined with the need for AI training facilities in the lowest-cost power locations to become a provider of space and power for the high-performance computing industry. We believe the company will be successful in monetizing its 750MW of capacity (Lake Mariner) and 400MW of capacity (Cayuga) that, net of costs, should yield an incremental ~$34.00 per share of value above the current share price, which we believe values the company's bitcoin mining operations only.'
'While there is no certainty that hyperscale companies will utilize these companies with expertise low-cost/high-capacity power management for [AI] machine learning, we believe it is highly probable, and the current sub-$4.00 (~6.0x 2027E EBITDA) valuation reflects bitcoin only,' Miller adds, summing up his view of the company.
Miller puts an Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating on this stock, and his $7 price target suggests a 12-month gain of 77.5%.
The Street has rated WULF shares as a Strong Buy, based on 7 recent reviews that include 6 Buys and 1 Hold. The stock's $3.94 trading price and $5.50 average target price together imply a 39.5% gain in store for the year ahead. (See WULF stock forecast)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
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