Riot Blockchain (RIOT)
Last on our list is Riot Blockchain, the largest bitcoin miner in the US. The company takes a ‘made in the USA’ approach, expanding large-scale operations in the US, with a focus on goosing the hash rate and infrastructure capacity. Riot has a hash rate of 2.2 exahash per second, an efficiency rating of 30.1 W/TH, and currently consumes 73 megawatts of power in its mining operations.
Riot’s main operations are based in the Coinmint facility in Massena, New York, where the company is able to take advantage of 88% zero-emission energy production sources Riot has 16,146 next-gen bitcoin mining ASICs deployed at the Coinmint facility.
To augment its mining capabilities, Riot in May of this year acquired Whinstone, US. The target company is the owner-operator of the largest bitcoin mining op in North America, based out of Rockdale, Texas. The site has 190,000 square feet in three buildings on a 100-acre site, with contracts in place for both a long-term lease and electric power supply. The Whinstone site can tap into Texas’ cheap electricity, at just 2.5 cents per kWh, and has developed 300 megawatts of its 750 megawatt capacity. Riot’s acquisition of Whinstone cost the company 11.8 million common shares of RIOT and $80 million in cash.
More recently, this past October, Riot announced that it is expanding its Whinstone property through development of an immersion-cooled, 200 megawatt bitcoin mining facility. The immersion technology is expected to offer improved operational efficiencies. The new facility will host 46,000 S19 Antminers, which have already been purchased.
Again, we’ll check in with D.A. Davidson’s Chris Brendler, who is impressed by Riot’s expansion. Brendler writes: “Although the $600M Whinstone acquisition only closed four months ago, Riot has been working nonstop on the taking advantage of the additional power capacity with four new buildings expected to come online over the next 6 months with one before year end. Even though the Whinstone site has capacity for another 750 MW expansion, we wouldn't be surprised if Riot is already thinking about its next location as mgmt is laser-focused on capitalizing on the opportunity as soon as possible.”
In line with his comments, Brendler placed a Buy rating on RIOT shares. His $42 price target implies the stock will appreciate 54% in the year ahead. (To watch Brendler’s track record, click here)
All in all, Riot stock has 5 positive analyst reviews backing its Strong Buy analyst consensus. With shares selling for $27.22 and the average price target at $46.60, the stock has a 71% one-year upside potential.
