Riot Platforms (RIOT) & CleanSpark (CLSK): Bitcoin Miners are Becoming AI Landlords. Riot Just Signed a $9 Billion Lease to Prove It

Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) struck a $9.1 billion, 20-year computing deal with Anthropic this week, leasing 191 megawatts of power at its Rockdale, Texas campus. The deal could grow to $16.1 billion if extended twice by five years each. Shares initially jumped more than 20% before giving back most of the gain.

Why This Matters

Riot and fellow bitcoin miner CleanSpark, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSK) are both completing a shift from mining bitcoin to renting out power and data center space to AI companies.

That raises the real question: is this a genuine, durable business model change, or a temporary boost dressed up while bitcoin mining economics stay weak?

The Bull and Bear Case: Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT)

The Anthropic deal alone is expected to generate $9.1 billion in revenue over 20 years. It follows Riot's earlier deal with AMD, giving the Rockdale site what Compass Point analyst Michael Donovan called a "two-tenant campus carrying $9.8 billion of contracted data center revenue." Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT)'s own second-quarter revenue beat expectations too, at $174.2 million versus the $154.3 million analysts modeled, helped by the data center business. Analyst Donovan reiterated a buy rating and $29 price target, arguing that tighter scrutiny of new power projects by Texas grid operator ERCOT could actually raise the value of power capacity Riot has already secured.