Cipher Mining Strengthens AI Strategy, Canaccord Raises Price Target to $16 – 29/9/2025
Cipher Mining (CIFR) marked a milestone week, unveiling a significant AI hosting agreement for its Barber Lake facility alongside a $1.1 billion convertible note offering—moves that could reshape the company’s strategic outlook, according to Canaccord Genuity.
The brokerage maintained its buy rating on CIFR and raised the price target to $16 from $12. Shares climbed 1.2% in early trading to about $11.60.
Cipher’s deal with Fluidstack, backed by Google, surpassed market expectations and reinforces its role in the growing “miner pivot-to-AI” trend. Analysts highlighted that the timing aligns with a surge in hyperscaler and GPU cloud provider contracts, confirming robust near-term demand for large-scale AI compute.
The company’s strong share price has also bolstered its capital-raising capacity. The $1.1 billion convertible note, issued at a 0.00% coupon, enables Cipher to retain full ownership of Barber Lake, avoiding equity dilution. Previously, management had considered selling a stake to reduce leverage, but favorable market conditions and stock performance now make this unnecessary.
Looking ahead, further AI deals are likely. Barber Lake still has uncommitted capacity, and Cipher’s 2.6 GW development pipeline, including energized sites like Odessa and the ramping Black Pearl, could support additional AI co-location agreements, the analysts added.
