Riot Platforms (Nasdaq: HOOD), the digital infrastructure company best known for its Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations, is scheduled to report the earnings results for the first quarter of the year on Apr. 30.
Bitcoin mining is the process of using high-end computer systems to solve complex cryptographic functions so that a miner can verify and add blocks containing BTC transactions to the blockchain to earn rewards in the form of newly mined BTC.
Related: What is Bitcoin mining? Explained
Once a profitable venture, Bitcoin mining is no longer lucrative because of surging energy prices, rising difficulty levels, falling rewards, and the Bitcoin crash.
Several data infrastructure companies like Riot Platforms have decided to abandon pure-play Bitcoin mining operations and dedicate ready resources to running artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) operations.
In fact, Riot has even been selling a portion of its Bitcoin holdings.
When it released the production update for Q1 2026 early this month, it revealed a sale of 3,778 Bitcoin for $289.5 million during the quarter. In contrast, it had produced only 1,473 Bitcoin during the quarter.
As of quarter end, Riot Platforms held 15,680 Bitcoin.
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Chardan initiates coverage on Riot Platforms
Ahead of Riot’s next earnings release, the investment bank Chardan initiated coverage on the company with a Buy rating and a price target of $27.50.
Chardan’s analyst Bill Papanastasiou said that the company has access to 1.7 GW of power capacity in Texas which is expected to be fully energized by year-end, Investing.com reported on Apr. 27.
The analyst called Riot one of the most attractive portfolios, thanks to its scale, power certainty, and secured approvals.
Riot maintains around $1.5 billion in liquidity, including its Bitcoin treasury, to fund capital expenditures and operations, Papanastasiou underlined.
Though Chardan’s valuation uses a sum-of-the-parts methodology covering Riot’s Bitcoin mining operations, Bitcoin holdings, and AI/HPC opportunities, the bank cited the company’ strategic shift toward AI/HPC in particular while granting a Buy rating and a price target of $27.50.
The RIOT stock was trading at $16.76 at press time, down more than 8% in a day.
Given the current stock price, Chardan’s target represents an upside of more than 60%.
