Hut 8 Corp (NASDAQ: HUT; TSX: HUT) is back in the market’s spotlight on December 23, 2025, as investors continue to re-rate the company less like a pure-play Bitcoin miner and more like a power-and-data-center platform for the AI era.
The stock’s action has been anything but sleepy. After opening sharply lower, shares reversed higher and pushed into the low-to-mid $50s intraday. As of 17:04 UTC on Dec. 23, Hut 8 traded at $53.62, up 6.41% on the day, with an intraday range of $48.02 to $53.86 on roughly 6.7 million shares.
So what’s driving the whiplash—and why are analysts suddenly throwing around price targets that would have sounded like science fiction earlier this year?
Hut 8 stock news on Dec. 23: a gap-down open, then a sharp reversal
Tuesday’s tape tells the story of a stock that’s become a magnet for momentum traders and long-term thematic investors at the same time.
Market coverage highlighted that Hut 8 gapped down at the open—after closing the prior session around $50.39—but then climbed back above $52 as buyers stepped in. [1]
That kind of “sell the open, buy the theme” behavior is common when a company hits a powerful narrative shift—especially one tied to AI infrastructure, where Wall Street is aggressively repricing anything connected to power, racks, and long-duration contracted cash flow.
The catalyst: Hut 8’s 15-year, $7 billion River Bend AI data center lease (with a Google backstop)
The core fundamental driver is Hut 8’s newly announced AI data center lease at its River Bend campus in Louisiana.
Here are the deal points that matter most to investors:
- 15-year lease for 245 MW of IT capacity, with a base-term contract value of $7.0 billion. [2]
- The agreement includes renewal options that can lift total contract value to about $17.7 billion if exercised. [3]
- Google is providing a financial backstop covering obligations for the 15-year base lease term—an “adult supervision” signal the market tends to love. [4]
- Hut 8 expects the initial data hall to be completed and commissioned in Q2 2027, with additional halls coming online over the remainder of 2027. [5]
- The company disclosed expected project-level financing of up to 85% loan-to-cost, with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs expected to serve as loan underwriters (subject to definitive terms and customary conditions). [6]
On top of that, Reuters reported the River Bend transaction is part of a broader collaboration involving Anthropic and infrastructure provider Fluidstack, with potential to scale dramatically—eventually up to about 2.3 gigawatts of capacity—and noted Hut 8 disclosed a total power pipeline of 8.65 gigawatts (from early-stage diligence to late-stage projects). [7]
In plain English: the market isn’t just valuing “one more data hall.” It’s valuing a possible repeatable factory for converting megawatts into long-term AI infrastructure revenue.
Analyst forecasts and price targets: Benchmark’s $85 call resets the conversation
A big reason Hut 8 keeps making headlines this week is that analysts didn’t just say “nice deal.” They raised targets—hard.
Benchmark raises Hut 8 target to $85 (Street-high)
Multiple reports circulating on Dec. 23 emphasize Benchmark’s move to lift its price target to $85 from $78 while reiterating a Buy rating. [8]
Benchmark’s thesis, as repeated across market coverage, is essentially:
- the River Bend transaction brings long-dated, investment-grade-backstopped cash flows
- with embedded expansion optionality across Anthropic, Fluidstack, and Google
- and it positions Hut 8 as a standout public-market way to play AI/HPC infrastructure. [9]
Some coverage also cites an estimate that the contracted cash flow and power demand tied to River Bend could be valued around $7.6 billion. [10]
Other recent targets: $74, $80, $55, $65… and a widening range
Benchmark isn’t alone. In the days leading into Dec. 23:
- Craig-Hallum raised its price target to $80 from $60 (Buy), framing the economics as potentially exceptional (including commentary about very high margins). [11]
- Piper Sandler reiterated Overweight with a $74 target and published a sum-of-the-parts analysis that included a wide valuation range depending on assumptions. [12]
- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) raised its target to $55, and discussed valuing the Fluidstack lease across a range depending on cap-rate assumptions, while also pointing to additional expansion potential. [13]
- Rosenblatt reiterated Buy with a $65 target, according to MarketBeat’s roundup of analyst actions. [14]
Put those together and you get something important: the “Hut 8 stock forecast” conversation is no longer anchored to Bitcoin mining multiples. It’s increasingly anchored to infrastructure-style valuation frameworks (cap rates, contracted cash flow, and expansion rights).
Consensus ratings: “Buy,” but the averages differ depending on the tracker
If you’re seeing conflicting consensus numbers today, you’re not imagining it.
- One snapshot reported by MarketBeat describes Hut 8 with a “Buy” consensus and an average price target around $53.76. [15]
- TipRanks’ summary of analyst sentiment points to a Strong Buy consensus and an average price target around $65.75. [16]
These differences often come down to (1) which analysts are included, (2) how quickly target changes are reflected, and (3) whether older targets are still counted. The key takeaway is directionally consistent: analysts following the story are broadly positive, but they disagree—sometimes wildly—on how quickly Hut 8 can translate “power + land + contracts” into scaled, repeatable earnings.
Why the market is treating Hut 8 like an AI infrastructure stock (not “just” a crypto miner)
Hut 8’s own description of the business helps explain why the narrative changed so fast. Reuters describes Hut 8 as an energy infrastructure platform with segments spanning Power, Digital Infrastructure, and Compute (including Bitcoin mining, GPU-as-a-service, and cloud operations). Reuters also notes the company’s platform spans about 1,020 MW of energy capacity under management across 15 sites in the U.S. and Canada. [17]
That “power-first” positioning matters because AI data centers aren’t constrained by chips alone anymore—they’re constrained by electricity, interconnects, cooling, and speed-to-build. Hut 8 is effectively trying to be the company that already has the shovels, the land, and the megawatts when the AI gold rush shows up with a blank check.
Reuters also framed the industry-wide pivot clearly: former crypto miners are repurposing their access to high-voltage power and specialized sites to serve AI infrastructure demand—and Hut 8 has spent the last year repositioning itself in that direction. [18]
The American Bitcoin factor: still crypto exposure, but now packaged differently
Even as Hut 8 leans into AI infrastructure, it hasn’t fully exited crypto economics.
Reuters reported earlier in 2025 that Hut 8 partnered with Eric Trump to launch American Bitcoin, with Hut 8 consolidating the majority of its mining operations for an 80% stake and serving as American Bitcoin’s exclusive infrastructure and operating partner—a move Reuters said would narrow Hut 8’s focus toward a “lower-volatility energy and digital infrastructure” profile. [19]
Later Reuters reporting described American Bitcoin’s path to public trading via a merger and again referenced Hut 8’s 80% ownership. [20]
Why does this matter for Hut 8 stock today? Because analyst notes tied to the River Bend deal have also highlighted the ongoing value (and volatility risk) of Hut 8’s stake in its Bitcoin-mining affiliate. [21]
In other words, Hut 8 is trying to become a “picks and shovels” AI infrastructure story—but it still has crypto DNA in the bloodstream.
What to watch next for Hut 8 stock
The story is now straightforward—and brutally execution-dependent. Here are the pressure points that will likely drive Hut 8 stock into early 2026:
Progress milestones at River Bend
- Investors will track permitting, construction updates, equipment procurement, and whether the project remains on track for Q2 2027 commissioning. [22]
Financing details
- The company has pointed to project-level financing up to 85% loan-to-cost with major financial institutions involved (subject to final agreements). Markets will react to the final structure, pricing, and covenants. [23]
Expansion optionality becoming real contracts
- Rights like the ROFO for up to 1,000 MW and broader scaling discussions are valuable—but investors will likely demand signed commitments before awarding full value. [24]
Earnings and near-term fundamentals
- Hut 8’s most recently reported quarter (released Nov. 4) showed revenue of $80.72 million and EPS of ($0.07) versus expectations cited in market coverage—yet the company remains in a transition where clean, steady profitability is still a work in progress. [25]
Bottom line
On Dec. 23, 2025, Hut 8 stock is moving on a potent combination: a marquee AI data center lease with an investment-grade-style backstop, a credible long-term buildout timeline, and a wave of analyst upgrades led by a Street-high $85 target. [26]
The bull case is that Hut 8 has found a rare spot at the intersection of power scarcity and AI compute demand, turning megawatts into contracted cash flows. The bear case is that the market is pricing in a near-flawless execution path years ahead of commissioning—while Hut 8 still carries meaningful volatility (including residual crypto exposure) and must prove it can scale this model repeatedly.
References
1. www.marketbeat.com, 2. www.prnewswire.com, 3. www.prnewswire.com, 4. www.prnewswire.com, 5. www.prnewswire.com, 6. www.prnewswire.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.insidermonkey.com, 9. www.insidermonkey.com, 10. www.insidermonkey.com, 11. www.investing.com, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.marketbeat.com, 15. www.marketbeat.com, 16. www.tipranks.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.investing.com, 22. www.prnewswire.com, 23. www.prnewswire.com, 24. www.prnewswire.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com, 26. www.prnewswire.com
