Benchmark Raises Hut 8 Target Price to $195

Odaily Equity Research raised its target price for Hut 8 to $195 from $165 on Wednesday, citing the full commercialization of the company's Beacon Point AI data center campus in Texas.This is the second time Benchmark has raised its target price for Hut 8 this month. Last week, analyst Mark Palmer had already incorporated the first phase of the Beacon Point project into his valuation, raising the target from $85 to $165. The new target implies approximately 75% upside from Hut 8's stock price of around $111 on Wednesday.Hut 8 has now signed contracts for 949 megawatts of AI data center capacity, indicating its business is further pivoting from traditional Bitcoin mining towards AI infrastructure and power-driven data center models. Benchmark believes the company is evolving into a "power-first data center REIT," an infrastructure platform centered around power resources and data center assets.Hut 8's stock rose about 2% on Wednesday, bringing its year-to-date gains to nearly 120%. As demand for AI computing power continues to grow, the market is reassessing the value of the substantial power and data center resources held by Bitcoin mining companies.