Cipher Mining Stock Surges 34% After $5.5 Billion AWS Lease Deal
Cipher Mining Inc. (NASDAQ: CIFR) saw its stock jump 34% on Monday following the announcement of a massive 15-year, $5.5 billion data center lease agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), set to commence in 2026. Under this landmark deal, Cipher will provide turnkey space and power optimized for AI workloads, rolling out in two phases starting July and August 2026. The first rent payment is scheduled for August 2025.
### Strong Q3 Performance Despite Missed Estimates
On the same day, Cipher reported its third-quarter financial results, showcasing significant improvements despite missing analyst revenue and earnings estimates. The company posted a net loss of $3 million in Q3, a marked improvement from the $46 million loss reported in the prior quarter. Adjusted earnings rose to $41 million from $30 million in Q2, while Bitcoin mining revenue nearly tripled year-over-year, climbing from $24.1 million to $71.7 million.
However, Cipher fell short of Wall Street expectations, with analysts projecting $76.5 million in revenue and earnings of $0.11 per share.
### Expansion Beyond Bitcoin Mining
The AWS agreement represents Cipher’s second major technology partnership this year, signaling a strategic shift beyond its traditional Bitcoin mining operations. In September, Google acquired a 5.4% stake in Cipher as part of a $3 billion, multi-year data center agreement involving AI data center firm Fluidstack.
CEO Tyler Page emphasized the significance of these deals:
“We are now following that transaction with another major step forward by signing our first direct lease with a Tier 1 hyperscaler.”
Once operational, the AI data center hosting business is poised to become Cipher’s primary revenue source, with Bitcoin mining transitioning to a secondary role.
### New Joint Venture: Colchis AI Hosting Site
In addition to the AWS deal, Cipher announced it secured a 95% equity stake in a joint venture named Colchis, which plans to develop a one-gigawatt AI hosting site in West Texas. Cipher will provide the majority of the financing for this ambitious project, further solidifying its position in the AI infrastructure market.
### Tech Giants Partner with Crypto Miners
Monday’s announcements highlight a growing trend of collaborations between major technology firms and cryptocurrency miners. On the same day, fellow Bitcoin miner IREN signed a $9.7 billion multi-year GPU cloud services contract with Microsoft. Earlier this year, TeraWulf secured a $3.7 billion hosting agreement with Fluidstack, which also received backing from Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
### Industry Shifts Amid Bitcoin Halving
The industry-wide trend towards diversification comes in response to the April 2024 Bitcoin halving event, which reduced mining rewards to 3.125 Bitcoin per block. This change has put pressure on miners’ profitability, prompting many to pivot their energy capacity towards AI and high-performance computing hosting services.
These AI hosting deals provide miners with more predictable and stable revenue streams compared to the volatility of cryptocurrency markets. Given that the computing infrastructure for Bitcoin mining is also suitable for AI applications, this strategic shift is a natural progression.
### Stock Performance
Cipher’s stock has traded within a 52-week range of $1.86 to $25.11. Monday’s closing price of $22.76 positions the stock near the top of that range, reflecting strong investor confidence following the AWS partnership announcement.
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*Stay tuned for more updates on how Cipher Mining and other industry players continue to evolve in the rapidly changing landscape of cryptocurrency and AI infrastructure.*
https://coincentral.com/cipher-mining-cifr-stock-bitcoin-miner-surges-34-on-5-5-billion-amazon-data-center-deal/
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