Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms’ stock is a buy due to its significant organic growth opportunities, H.C. Wainwright analyst Mike Colonnese said in a note.
The Riot Platforms stock is down 34% year-to-date amid a broader correction for Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins that also has crypto stocks down. But in a research note shared with crypto.news, Colonnese argues for the bitcoing mining stock to see further growth as it eyes expansion.
He has reiterated a buy rating for RIOT with a $17 price target.
Riot’s financial results
Riot released its second quarter results on July 31, revealing it recorded substantial operational growth during the quarter. Jason Les, CEO of Riot, also highlighted that the company made progress on its long-term growth strategy.
According to H.C. Wainwright’s Colonnese, Riot “officially raised its 2024 and 2025 outlook and reported 2Q24 top line results.” Despite the financial results being mixed, the analyst notes they exceeded estimates on several metrics, including stronger engineering revenues. Riot also surpassed its hash rate guidance for the quarter, reaching 21.4 exahashes per second.
The 77% quarter-on-quarter growth in the three months ending June 30 meant Riot reached 22 EH/s, the fastest growth rate in hashrate for public miners tracked by H.C. Wainwright, Colonnese added.
Read more: Riot Platforms posts 52% decrease in Bitcoin production for Q2
Expansion efforts
Bullish projections for RIOT also come as the miner looks to expand its capacity further. Recently, Riot acquired Kentucky-based BTC miner, Block Mining.
The acquisition puts Riot on track towards achieving its 2024 and 2025 growth objectives.
Despite the challenges it faced with plans to acquire Bitcoin miner Bitfarms, Riot is still on course for success.
Per the H.C. Wainwright note, the company is well-positioned for the next 18 months. A major reason is its balance sheet, which boasts over $1 billion of liquidity compared to about $694 million of estimated capex requirements to the end of 2025.
“With low power costs, good scale, and a strong balance sheet, we believe Riot is competitively positioned to benefit from the next leg of the bull market cycle for BTC,” the analyst concluded.
Riot’s guidance for end of year 2024 is growth to a hashrate of 36.3 EH/s and 56.6 EH/s by end of 2025.
Meanwhile, the RIOT stock traded around $9.97, down 2.2% at 10:27 am ET on Aug. 1, 2024.
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