Riot Platforms: Strategic Land Acquisition and AMD Partnership Accelerate Shift from Bitcoin Mining to High-Value HPC/Data Center Model, Supporting Buy Rating

J.P. Morgan analyst Reginald Smith has maintained their bullish stance on RIOT stock, giving a Buy rating on January 17.

Reginald Smith has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors that highlight Riot Platforms’ strengthening strategic and financial position. He emphasizes that the purchase of 200 acres at the Rockdale facility eliminates the uncertainty tied to a prior ground lease and gives Riot full control over a major infrastructure asset that management plans to convert entirely to high‑performance computing over time. He also notes that the long-term data center lease and service agreement with AMD establishes a substantial, recurring revenue stream with attractive economics, including a relatively low upfront capital requirement and a rapid payback period compared with typical data center projects.

In addition, Smith points out that the AMD contract offers material upside through multiple extension options and significant expansion rights that could lift total contract value toward the billion‑dollar range while validating the commercial appeal of Riot’s land and power portfolio. He further underscores that Riot’s strong balance sheet, bolstered by approximately $2 billion in cash and bitcoin, provides ample capacity to fund current projects at Rockdale and Corsicana and to pursue future developments largely through a mix of debt, existing cash, and operating cash flow, limiting the need for dilutive equity issuance. Taken together, these elements support his view that Riot is well positioned to transition from a pure-play bitcoin miner toward a higher-value HPC and data center platform, justifying a Buy recommendation.

In another report released on January 17, TipRanks – OpenAI also upgraded the stock to a Buy with a $21.00 price target.