Double Upgrade for Riot Platforms Amid AI Pivot as JPMorgan and Citi Lift Targets

Riot Platforms (RIOT) received back-to-back analyst upgrades on Friday, with JPMorgan and Citigroup raising their outlooks on the bitcoin miner amid a shift toward high-performance computing and AI-focused services.

JPMorgan upgraded Riot to overweight from neutral, increasing its price target to $19 from $15 and highlighting the stock as the most attractive among its mining peers. Citigroup upgraded Riot to buy from neutral, raising its price target to $24 from $13.75. Both firms noted Riot’s AI and cloud services pivot as a key growth driver amid tightening mining margins. Riot modestly outperformed the broader sector, declining just 1.2% to $16.55.

In other moves, JPMorgan downgraded IREN to underweight from neutral, with shares down 9.7% Friday but still up roughly 300% year-to-date. CleanSpark (CLSK) was lowered to neutral, falling 9.3% on the day while up 34% year-to-date.

JPMorgan maintained its buy rating on Cipher Mining (CIFR) and doubled its price target to $12 from $6, with shares 3.5% lower at $11.20. MARA Holdings (MARA) remained overweight, though its price target was trimmed to $20 from $22, with shares down 1% at $15.90.

Analysts at JPMorgan assigned a 50% probability that Riot, Cipher, and IREN secure near-term high-performance computing (HPC) colocation deals, referencing Core Scientific’s (CORZ) 800 MW CoreWeave (CRWV) contract as a benchmark. HPC colocation agreements are valued between $3.7 million and $8.6 million per gross megawatt (MW).