Benzinga - Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald has highlighted Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) as their top pick in the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining sector.
The firm's confidence in Riot's potential is evident as it set a price target of $23.00, more than double its current price of $10.98.
In an analyst note, Cantor Fitzgerald emphasized Riot's position as the Bitcoin halving approaches, suggesting that the company is poised to continue gaining a larger share in the Bitcoin mining industry.
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Key Highlights From Analysts
Cantor Fitzgerald has an Overweight rating on Riot Platforms. The company mined 333 Bitcoin in August 2023, a decrease of approximately 19% MoM. This decline was attributed to Riot's participation in the ERCOT energy markets.
Despite mining fewer Bitcoins, Riot generated a whopping $31.6 million in August from power credits and demand response credits. This is a 305% MoM increase. The company's energy revenues for August equated to approximately 1,134 Bitcoin, considering an average Bitcoin price of $27,874.
Riot's management has revised its hash rate guidance, now expecting to achieve 12.5 EH/s by the end of 2023. The company has the potential to reach a self-mining hash rate of 35.4 EH/s, the highest target announced by any public miner.
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Riot held 7,309 Bitcoin on its balance sheet as of Aug. 31, marking a 0.5% MoM increase. The company sold 300 Bitcoin in August, resulting in net proceeds of around $8.6 million.
Cantor Fitzgerald analysts Josh Siegler and Will Carlson noted, "We continue to believe that RIOT represents the best-in-class Bitcoin miner with significant scale, low energy costs, and no long-term debt."
The report also highlighted adjustments made to the RIOT model, reflecting changes in Bitcoin price, network hash, and Riot's August monthly update.
Price Action: Shares of Riot were up 2.19% at $11.49 at the time of publication on Thursday.
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