New York, Jan 17, 2026, 07:36 EST — Market closed.
- Cipher Mining ended Friday with a 7.3% gain, closing at $18.80.
- Shares in Bitcoin mining firms climbed following Riot’s announcement of a long-term data-center lease deal with AMD.
- U.S. markets remain closed Monday; all eyes turn to crypto price swings ahead of Tuesday’s open.
Cipher Mining Inc shares climbed 7.3% on Friday, closing at $18.80, with more than 45 million shares changing hands. The boost followed a broad rally among U.S.-listed bitcoin miners, sparked by Riot Platforms’ announcement of a long-term data-center lease connected to chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices. 1
The rally is significant for Cipher as its stock now moves along two fronts: the bitcoin price and the miners’ ability to convert cheap power and land into steady data-center rental income. High-performance computing (HPC) — the intense data center work behind AI model training — operates under a different pay structure than bitcoin mining. 2
U.S. stock markets remain closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, extending the break between trading sessions. Meanwhile, miners face the risk of shifts in bitcoin prices over the weekend, as the cryptocurrency never stops trading. 3
Riot announced a 10-year lease and services deal with AMD for its Rockdale, Texas, data center. The agreement kicks off with 25 megawatts delivered in stages from January through May. CEO Jason Les said this deal “validates Riot’s infrastructure,” while AMD’s CIO Hasmukh Ranjan emphasized the importance of partners who can “match our pace and scale.” 4
Analysts wasted no time labeling the deal a benchmark for the sector’s shift. Clear Street’s Brian Dobson called Riot’s new tenant “investment-grade” and doubled down on the stock as a top pick. Cantor Fitzgerald also raised its price target to $31, maintaining an Overweight rating. 5
Cipher hasn’t lost sight of its HPC ambitions, and investors are still taking notice. In September, the company announced a 10-year HPC colocation deal with AI cloud provider Fluidstack for 168 MW of critical IT load at its Barber Lake site in Texas. Cipher estimates this contract will generate about $3 billion in revenue over the term. CEO Tyler Page called it a “transformative transaction” that “reinforces our HPC momentum.” 6
In December, Cipher announced the acquisition of a 200-megawatt site in Ohio named Ulysses, targeting energization in Q4 2027 with a connection to PJM, the country’s largest wholesale power market. “Hyperscalers are driving unprecedented demand for large-scale sites,” Page said, referencing the biggest cloud providers. 7
Bitcoin hovered near $95,220, slipping roughly 0.3%. Riot jumped roughly 16% on Friday. Marathon Digital climbed 6.6%, and CleanSpark rose about 5%, proving the group still moves in tandem when the coin holds steady.
But leverage works both ways. A weekend drop in bitcoin, harsher mining conditions, or setbacks in converting data centers can quickly turn a rally into a sharp sell-off. Plus, these buildouts can burn through cash long before they generate any revenue.
Traders are set to focus on fresh leasing updates from the miner group, along with Cipher’s upcoming report on its pipeline and spending outlook. MarketBeat lists Cipher’s next earnings release as Feb. 24, but notes the company hasn’t officially confirmed that date. 8
