Hut 8’s 'execution and delivery' year backs $85 target, Benchmark says

Benchmark reiterated its "buy" rating and $85 price target on Hut 8 (HUT), pointing to management’s emphasis on "execution and delivery" in 2026 as the company builds out its AI data center strategy.

The phrase came directly from CEO Asher Genoot during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Speaking about its flagship River Bend campus in Louisiana, Genoot said, "2026 is 1,000% going to be about execution and delivery," adding that construction is "tracking according to plan."

In a note published Wednesday, analyst Mark Palmer said the fourth-quarter results were shaped by mark-to-market bitcoin losses, but argued that the more important takeaway was Hut 8’s steady transition into what he described as a power-first digital infrastructure platform with a clearer path to contracted, long-duration cash flows.

Hut 8 posted a $301.8 million net loss in the fourth quarter, largely due to $401.9 million in primarily unrealized digital asset losses. Revenue nearly tripled year-over-year to $88.5 million as compute revenue ramped.

Palmer continues to view the 15-year, 245-megawatt IT lease at River Bend, signed with Fluidstack and financially backed by Google, as central to the investment case. The roughly $7 billion base-term agreement helped move Hut 8’s valuation toward infrastructure-style multiples, he said.

Sum of the parts

Benchmark’s $85 target is based on what Palmer calls a "sum-of-the-parts" analysis that includes the River Bend lease, a probability-weighted valuation of up to 1,000 additional megawatts under a right of first offer, the market value of Hut 8’s 60% stake in American Bitcoin, and its bitcoin holdings.

Shares of Hut 8 were trading just below $55 Thursday morning, down around 1.5% on the day.

The stock remains below its recent high near $66 but is still up more than 300% over the past year, even as bitcoin has fallen roughly 27% over the same stretch.