Riot Platforms plans to shift 600 megawatts of power capacity from Bitcoin mining to AI business, analysts are optimistic about this move

Odaily Planet Daily News Riot Platforms, one of the top listed Bitcoin mining companies, is launching a formal process to evaluate the feasibility of using the remaining approximately 600 megawatts (MW) of power capacity at its mine in Corsicana, Texas, for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing purposes. Bitcoin mining companies are increasingly diversifying their businesses from pure crypto mining to hosting AI and HPC infrastructure, a trend that accelerated after Bitcoin's fourth halving event in April 2024. Riot has been in preliminary discussions with potential AI/HPC counterparties for several months and is now expanding and accelerating contacts with potential partners in the field in parallel with this analysis. The company currently utilizes 400 MW of capacity for Bitcoin mining in Corsicana and has a total capacity of up to 1 GW at locations approved by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. In the process, Riot has suspended its previously announced 600 MW second-phase Bitcoin mining expansion project at the Corsicana facility. As a result, the company is reducing its previously announced 2025 total mining capacity growth and related capital expenditures, and will provide further updates as the review process progresses further. Riot previously expected to reach 46.7 EH/s of total mining capacity by the end of 2025, but now expects to reduce the target to 38.4 EH/s by the end of the year. Capital expenditures at the Corsicana facility are expected to be reduced by $245 million this year. Analysts at JPMorgan and Bernstein said the move was "encouraging" and could mark the beginning of Rio Platforms' "re-rating journey." Bernstein believes that RIOT's stock is trading at an "extremely cheap" price ($1.2 million/MW of total capacity) and has the potential for re-rating given AI's power capacity allocation. The firm has an "outperform" rating on the stock and a $22 price target. (The Block)