JPMorgan Boosts Ratings on Cipher and CleanSpark as Shift Toward HPC Speeds Up

JPMorgan Upgrades Cipher and CleanSpark as Bitcoin Miners Shift Toward HPC

Wall Street bank JPMorgan is raising its outlook on U.S.-listed bitcoin miners, highlighting a wave of high-performance computing (HPC) deals that are transforming business models and providing clearer long-term revenue visibility.

Cipher Mining (CIFR) was upgraded to overweight from neutral, with its price target raised to $18 from $12; shares climbed 4.2% early to $14.74. CleanSpark (CLSK) also received an overweight rating, rising 4.6% pre-market to $10.18.

IREN’s price target increased to $39 from $28, though JPMorgan kept an underweight rating; shares gained 2.2% to $43.20. Meanwhile, MARA Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) saw price target cuts due to lower bitcoin prices—MARA to $13 from $20, RIOT to $17 from $19—with MARA up 2.8% and RIOT up 1.8%.

JPMorgan cited $19 billion in contracted revenue across 600 MW of IT capacity signed by IREN and Cipher since September, evidence of miners pivoting from bitcoin-only operations to hybrid HPC models. The bank forecasts 1.7 GW of critical IT capacity across its coverage by late 2026.

Cipher’s 45% pullback makes it an attractive entry, backed by 600 MW of contracted capacity with AWS and Fluidstack, while CleanSpark’s upgrade reflects 200 MW of potential HPC at its new Texas site. Analysts also increased equity value per megawatt—$8M–$17M for colocation and up to $19M for integrated cloud—citing stronger cash-flow visibility.

While Riot and CleanSpark show upside under full HPC adoption, Cipher maintains the largest long-term optionality, including future unapproved capacity.