JPMorgan has reset its outlook for the bitcoin mining sector, signaling what it calls a more confident phase in the industry’s move toward high-power compute and cloud services. The update includes upgrades for Cipher Mining and CleanSpark, along with trimmed targets for several of the largest legacy miners.
Analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce pointed to more than 600 megawatts of long-term AI and cloud-related contracts signed since late September, involving companies such as AWS, Fluidstack, and Microsoft. They now expect miners to roll out about 1.7 gigawatts of additional critical IT capacity by the end of 2026. That would represent roughly one-third of the sector’s approved power footprint.
Cipher and CleanSpark Get a Boost
Cipher Mining received the strongest vote of confidence. The firm was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral, and its December 2026 price target increased to 18 dollars from 12. JPMorgan highlighted Cipher’s 410 megawatts of recent HPC contracts and its share price pullback of around 45 percent from recent highs, calling the current level an appealing opportunity. The bank now forecasts Cipher securing about 480 megawatts of critical IT capacity by 2026, or about 64 percent of its approved load. Analysts added that long-term development sites planned for 2028 and 2029 could support much higher valuations if the shift to HPC continues at this pace.
CleanSpark was also raised to Overweight, with JPMorgan holding its 14 dollar target. The firm’s newly acquired 285 megawatt site in Texas could support roughly 200 megawatts of critical IT infrastructure. Analysts valued that potential at about 13 million dollars per megawatt, giving CleanSpark added upside in the current market.
IREN Target Climbs After Microsoft Deal
JPMorgan lifted its price target for IREN to 39 dollars from 28, citing stronger valuations tied to cloud integrations after IREN’s 9.7 billion dollar agreement with Microsoft earlier this month. The rating, however, remains Underweight. Analysts believe the stock already reflects future HPC expansion at sites that are still in early development.
The bank estimates IREN could reach 660 megawatts of contracted critical IT load by 2026. That would represent about 250,000 GPUs and close to 6 billion dollars in annualized cloud revenue. Even with the higher target, the new estimate sits below IREN’s share price, which traded near 46.70 dollars on Monday morning.
Lower Targets for Marathon and Riot
Marathon’s target was reduced to 13 dollars from 20. Analysts attributed the cut to softer bitcoin prices, a rising network hashrate, and an expanded share count tied to ATM issuance and convertible notes. JPMorgan also lowered its estimated value for Marathon’s mining operations from about 2.5 billion dollars to 1.3 billion.
Riot’s target slipped to 17 dollars from 19. The bank expects the company to secure a 600 megawatt colocation agreement at its Corsicana facility. That represents roughly one-third of its approved power allocation. JPMorgan also reduced its valuation of Riot’s mining business to about 1 billion dollars.
