J.P Morgan upgrades MARA, downgrades Riot and IREN on valuation and bitcoin miner's 2025 hashrate target.

J.P. Morgan has upgraded MARA Holdings' shares due to its 2025 hashrate target and cut its recommendation on Riot Platforms and IREN on valuation. MARA stock rose 3.01% pre-market to $17.77.

J.P. Morgan has upgraded MARA Holdings' shares, citing the company's ambitious 2025 hashrate target, while also cutting its recommendation on Riot Platforms (RIOT) and IREN (IREN) on valuation. MARA stock rose 3.01% pre-market to $17.77.

In a research note, J.P. Morgan analysts upgraded MARA to "Overweight" from "Neutral," and increased the 2025-end price target to $22.00 from $19.00. The investment bank cited the company's 2025 hashrate target of 75 exahash, which represents over 40% growth from 2024, supported by machine orders already in place. The current energized hashrate for the month stood at 57.4 EH/s.

For RIOT and IREN, J.P. Morgan downgraded both stocks to "Neutral" from "Overweight." The investment bank noted that while the stocks have outperformed bitcoin and the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI) year-to-date, they seem "a little stretched." The analysts suggested that the stocks likely need an HPC deal or further BTC price appreciation to drive additional upside.

RIOT was trading +0.69% at $14.64 pre-market despite the downgrade, with the price target raised to $15.00 from $14.00. IREN was +1.02% pre-market to $17.90, with the price target increased to $16.00 from $12.00.

The investment bank also highlighted CleanSpark (CLSK) as its top pick, with the price target raised to $15.00 from $14.00 and the price target for Cipher Mining (CIFR) set at $6.00. The analysts noted that while Cipher, IREN, and Riot could all serve HPC clients in the future, the timeline to announce a deal remains uncertain.

CIFR shares were +1.55% to $6.57, while CLSK was up 2.45% to $12.11.

References:

[1] https://seekingalpha.com/news/4472672-jp-morgan-upgrades-mara-acts-on-riot-iren-bitcoin-miners
[2] https://www.wallstreetzen.com/stocks/us/nasdaq/mara/stock-forecast