H.C. Wainwright has opened coverage on Hut 8 Mining Corp. with a Buy recommendation and established a $80.00 target price, according to the firm's research released on Monday. That target sits below the analyst high of $85 and implies potential upside relative to the $55.83 share price at the time of the report.
Why the call matters
The research house framed Hut 8 as emerging into a "top weight class infrastructure contender" through a string of strategic alliances aimed at hyperscalers and developers of artificial intelligence applications. H.C. Wainwright pointed to the company's recent commercial agreements with Fluidstack and Anthropic as principal underpinnings of its favorable outlook.
Those deals are central to Hut 8’s transition away from a primarily crypto-mining profile toward recurring-revenue digital infrastructure. In H.C. Wainwright’s view, long-term leases with tenants that serve AI workloads can materially change the revenue mix and support more predictable cash flows.
Financial position and operating context
Since a management transition in early 2024, Hut 8 has concentrated on energy and facility development. The company has been working through challenges that trace back to its USBTC consolidation, including the divestiture of its Canadian power-production assets following the Validus Power Corp. bankruptcy. Despite these headwinds, InvestingPro data referenced in the research indicates the company remained profitable over the last twelve months, reporting a return on equity of 19 percent.
That profitability sits alongside liquidity constraints: the company’s current ratio is reported at 0.72, which indicates current liabilities exceed liquid current assets. This metric suggests working capital and short-term liquidity will require monitoring as the firm executes on its development pipeline.
Project pipeline and strategic deals
Hut 8 has begun development of its River Bend campus in Louisiana, securing Fluidstack as a tenant for more than 300 megawatts and 245 megawatts of IT load, with the site holding potential expansion to as much as 1 gigawatt. H.C. Wainwright noted that Google’s financial backstop for the River Bend undertaking boosts the credit profile of the project and is expected to reduce debt costs, thereby enhancing project returns.
Beyond River Bend, the company is developing additional sites. One named location is Lon Hill in Corpus Christi, Texas, which targets a 1 gigawatt scale and could be powering high-performance computing before year-end. Those assets are intended to support the recently disclosed 15-year, $7 billion agreement with Fluidstack and Anthropic.
Deal economics and portfolio transactions
Management has disclosed a flagship 15-year lease with Fluidstack, backed by Google, that carries a headline value of $7 billion. The agreement is projected to generate $6.9 billion in net operating income and includes renewal options that could lift the total contract value to $17.7 billion. Separately, Hut 8 has agreed to sell its portfolio of four natural gas-fired power plants in Ontario to TransAlta Corporation. That sale involves a 310-megawatt portfolio that Hut 8 had restored after acquiring it out of bankruptcy.
Market reaction and analyst views
Hut 8’s shares have shown strong momentum, delivering a 182 percent price return over the past six months. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer has raised his price target to $85, which the note describes as the highest on Wall Street, citing the data center transaction as a catalyst that will accelerate the company’s shift from crypto-focused operations to a business centered on digital infrastructure. That change, the analyst argues, will improve revenue quality and durability.
Valuation and additional resources
While H.C. Wainwright’s initiation is positive, InvestingPro data included in the coverage suggests the company appears overvalued relative to a calculated Fair Value metric. The same data source offers additional analytical material and ProTips that investors can use to further evaluate Hut 8’s growth prospects and financial metrics.
Takeaway
H.C. Wainwright’s Buy rating and $80 target reflect the firm’s conviction that long-term leases with AI-focused tenants, combined with project-level credit support from Google, can transform Hut 8’s earnings profile. That thesis sits against a backdrop of existing profitability on a trailing basis but with near-term liquidity metrics that warrant attention as the company scales its campus developments and completes asset sales.