Bitcoin Miner IREN Upgraded to 'Overweight', Cipher Mining Downgraded to 'Neutral': JPMorgan

Wall Street bank JPMorgan has updated its forecasts and price targets for Bitcoin (BTC) miners ahead of Q4 2024 results, as well as changes in Bitcoin's price and network hashrate.

JPMorgan upgraded IREN (IREN), its top pick in the sector, to overweight from neutral and cut its price target to $12 from $15. Shares were up 2.7% in early trading at $7.23.

Cipher Mining (CIFR) was downgraded to neutral from outperform and the bank removed its $8 price target. Shares fell 3% to $3.10.

The bank reiterated its outperform ratings on Riot Platforms (RIOT) and CleanSpark (CLSK), while cutting their price targets to $13 and $12, respectively. Riot fell 0.5% to $7.82. CleanSpark, on the other hand, rose 0.6% to $8.15.

The neutral rating for MARA Holdings (MARA) was also affirmed, and the company's target price was cut to $18 from $23. Shares rose 0.5% to $13.14.

Miner price targets were cut by 19-29%, reflecting a 10% reduction in the bank's estimated Bitcoin price and an 80% increase in the network's hashrate growth estimate.

The report found that the total market capitalization of the five mining stocks tracked by the bank has fallen more than 20% since the start of the year, while the price of Bitcoin has fallen 11%.

Mining stocks are under pressure as high-performance computing (HPC) deals have taken longer than expected to close while the mining industry's economic environment has worsened, the bank said.

The report also highlighted that a pullback in these stocks could present an attractive opportunity for investors.

Read more: Bitcoin Mining Economy Weakens in February: JPMorgan

Source: cryptonews.net