Bernstein, in its Bitcoin mining report published today, rated Riot Platforms, CleanSpark, IREN, and Core Scientific as “outperform,” while Marathon Digital was rated as “market perform.” These ratings were based on five key metrics, including production capacities, operational efficiencies, energy costs, and artificial intelligence strategies.
Bernstein’s Bitcoin Miners Evaluation
The “outperform” rating indicates that an analyst expects a stock to exceed market or sector performance, while “market perform” suggests an average performance expectation. In this context, Bernstein’s evaluations provide significant insights into the current status and future potential of the respective companies.
According to Bernstein, the three largest Bitcoin producers are Marathon, Core Scientific, and CleanSpark. Core Scientific and CleanSpark stand out particularly in terms of realized hash rate, while Riot Platforms, despite lagging in production and efficiency, has managed to close the gap with energy credits and improvements in production efficiency last month.
In terms of operational and energy efficiency, CleanSpark and IREN occupy “sweet spots” in energy efficiency and realized hash rate/uptime. Marathon is attempting to improve operational uptime efficiency by transitioning to a self-mining model. Riot Platforms and Core Scientific are leaders in operational energy capacity. Additionally, IREN is developing two mega mining facilities in Texas and is expected to become a significant player in the future.
Core Scientific Leads in Hashcost
Hashcost, or hash cost, sees Core Scientific as “best in class” due to low energy costs and strong uptime. Riot Platforms and CleanSpark lag behind Core Scientific in this metric, while Marathon continues to work on improving hash costs.
Finally, Bernstein identifies Core Scientific as a “clear leader” in artificial intelligence strategy. The company has allocated significant resources to its data centers. IREN is seen as a “promising” story due to its efforts to make its Texas mega facilities suitable for AI hyperscalers and assigning Morgan Stanley to explore AI agreements for these facilities.
