Benchmark Lifts Hut 8 Target 18% on Data Center Pivot

Hut 8 is seeking to move beyond its roots as a bitcoin miner by using its power portfolio to develop AI and high-performance computing campuses. The shift matters because long-term leases with investment-grade tenants could generate steadier, higher-margin cash flow than mining, where earnings swing with bitcoin prices and network economics. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer says the strategy increasingly resembles a “power-first data center REIT” with an embedded development platform, offering investors exposure to scarce grid capacity as AI infrastructure demand rises.

Benchmark raised its Hut 8 price target by 18% to $195 from $165 in a July 21, 2026 note, while reiterating a Buy rating. The target implies roughly 75% upside from a share price near $111, even after the stock’s nearly 120% year-to-date advance. The move followed Hut 8’s July 20 announcement of a second 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for 352 megawatts at its Beacon Point campus in Texas, doubling contracted capacity there to 704 MW and fully commercializing the 1-gigawatt site.