Benchmark has initiated coverage of bitcoin miner Hut 8, giving the company a “buy” rating and a price target of $12.
In its evaluation, Benchmark factored in the company’s “diversified business model” following the completion of its merger with U.S. Bitcoin 
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Corporation. This includes multiple new revenue streams from self–mining, managed services, hosting, high–performance computing and artificial intelligence.
Hut 8’s bitcoin holdings
The investment banking firm also noted the market value of the company’s bitcoin holdings. “Hut 8 as of March 31 ranked second among listed miners in terms of bitcoin holdings with 9,102 bitcoins held in reserve. Hut 8 trades at a discount to its bitcoin mining peers that we expect to shrink as the company executes on its self–mining expansion plans,” the Benchmark analysis added.
The Benchmark research note added that Hut 8’s bitcoin holdings provide it with a sizeable liquidity cushion and the ability to capture upside during bitcoin price rallies.
“The company’s bitcoin holdings are valued at around $592 million, which is equal to approximately 82% of its market capitalization,” the analysis noted.
Merger with U.S. Bitcoin Corporation
Hut 8 and U.S. Bitcoin Corporation announced that they had officially joined forces in November 2023. The new company, based in the U.S., is officially called Hut 8 Corporation.
As of March 31, the company had around 884 MW of power capacity under management across 11 sites and featured a total hash rate of 25.5 EH/s and a 250 MW hosting business, and a managed services operation. HUT also operates a high-performance computing business with five data centers across Canada.
Hut 8 Corporation shares are Nasdaq listed and Friday’s price at close of trade was $8.05, up 2.16% in the day.
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