Shares of Riot Platforms Inc RIOT are trading higher on Wednesday following positive analyst coverage from Arete Research combined with a rise in Bitcoin prices.
What Happened: Arete Research initiated coverage on Riot with a Buy rating and price target of $26, setting a new Street-high among analysts covering the Bitcoin BTC/USD mining stock. The company’s shares opened at $18.51 on Wednesday and hit a new 52-week high of $20.13 before giving back some of the gains.
The bullish initiation comes amid mixed sentiment on Riot Platforms with price targets ranging from $6 to $26. According to Benzinga data, bears have raised concerns over projected Bitcoin price declines.
However, bulls point to the company’s positive trajectory, with Bitcoin mining segment revenue increasing approximately 19% quarter-over-quarter.Riot’s Engineering division revenue estimates have been revised to reach up to $100 million run rate by the fourth quarter of 2025.
The rally in Riot shares on Wednesday is also supported by Bitcoin’s nearly 2% gain. Any positive Bitcoin movement typically acts as a catalyst for Riot and other Bitcoin-mining stocks because it increases the underlying value of Bitcoin holdings.
Riot said earlier this month that it mined 477 Bitcoin in August, up about 48% year-over-year. Based on the company’s latest mining update, Riot held a total of 19,309 Bitcoin as of the end of August.
The analyst consensus on Riot Platforms is a Buy with an average price target of $16.60 based on 19 analyst ratings.
RIOT Price Action: Riot Platforms shares were up 7.02% at $18.27 at the time of publication on Wednesday, per Benzinga Pro.
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