Bitcoin Miner Hut 8’s Post-Merger Prospects Look Good: Benchmark

• Hut 8 now has a more diversified business model following its merger last year with US Bitcoin Corporation, the report said.

• Benchmark initiated coverage of the bitcoin mining stock with a buy rating and a $12 price target.

• Its bitcoin stash of 9,102 coins provides it with a sizable liquidity cushion, the report said.

The new Hut 8 (HUT), resulting from the merger with US Bitcoin Corporation (USBTC) that closed last November, features a diversified business model with multiple revenue streams, broker Benchmark said in a research report on Monday.

Benchmark initiated coverage of the bitcoin (BTC) miner with a buy rating and a $12 price target. Hut 8 was trading 5.2% higher at $8.47 at publication time.

These revenue streams include self-mining, managed services, hosting, and high-performance (HPC) computing and artificial intelligence (AI).

“Hut trades at a discount to its bitcoin mining peers that we expect to shrink as the company executes on its self-mining expansion plans,” analyst Mark Palmer wrote.

As of March 31, Hut 8 ranked second among listed miners in terms of bitcoin holdings with 9,102 held in reserve, the report said.

This bitcoin horde provides the company with a “sizable liquidity cushion as well the ability to capture upside during bitcoin price rallies,” the report added. Its crypto holdings are valued at around $592 million, which is equal to about 82% of its market capitalization.

Since the merger closed, “management has focused on actions aimed at reducing the company’s cost of mining bitcoin and its realized cost of energy and increasing its cash flow,” Palmer wrote.