Riot Platforms 주가가 Anthropic과의 91억 달러 데이터 센터 계약이 지속적인 수익을 창출하며 암호화폐 채굴에서 AI 호스팅으로의 전환이 검증되고 있어 상승했다.

Shares of Riot Platforms Inc. rose 3.81% to $20.45 on Wednesday, gaining 75 cents. The bitcoin miner’s ongoing pivot to an AI data center operator continues to attract investor interest, more than a month after it secured a landmark computing capacity agreement with Anthropic.

On August 10, Riot disclosed a 20-year agreement to supply 191 megawatts of data center capacity—enough electricity to power roughly 143,000 homes simultaneously—from its Rockdale, Texas campus to a facility it initially identified only as a "leading frontier AI" lab. Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the matter, confirmed the customer as Anthropic, the developer behind the Claude chatbot. Running through June 2048, the contract is projected to generate approximately $9.1 billion in revenue. Two optional five-year extensions could raise the total potential value to roughly $16.1 billion if fully exercised.

Announced alongside second-quarter earnings, the deal triggered a surge of up to 25% in after-hours trading. The stock opened the next session higher by 17% to 20%, depending on the market tracker used. Riot CEO Jason Les characterized the agreement as a pivotal step in the company’s transition away from its pure-play bitcoin mining roots. "Today's announcement of a landmark 20-year, 191-megawatt data center lease with a leading frontier AI lab marks a defining moment in our evolution into a leading developer of large-scale data centers," Les stated in the earnings release.

The Anthropic contract builds on an earlier agreement Riot secured with Advanced Micro Devices, which has already established operations at the same Rockdale campus. Together, the two deals create what Les called a two-tenant data center campus, pushing Riot’s total signed capacity to 241 megawatts and approximately $9.8 billion in long-term contracted revenue—all secured within a six-month window.

Riot will commission the Anthropic capacity in phases, targeting 96 megawatts by December 2027 and full completion of the 191-megawatt buildout by June 2028. To finance early construction, the company secured a $573 million interim credit facility through Morgan Stanley while finalizing a permanent long-term credit backstop.

Wall Street’s response has remained largely positive. Compass Point analyst Michael Donovan cited the deal as proof of Riot’s shift toward substantial contracted data center revenue, highlighting the campus as a diversified income stream beyond bitcoin mining. Following the announcement, Bernstein raised its price target to $35 and Citi increased its target to $32, both labeling the agreement transformational despite Riot’s continued quarterly net losses.

The losses remain significant in absolute terms. Second-quarter revenue reached $174.2 million, a 14% increase from $153 million a year prior. Bitcoin mining accounted for $113.7 million, while the emerging data center segment contributed $23.2 million. Despite top-line growth, Riot reported a net loss of $237.2 million for the quarter, reflecting the heavy upfront capital expenditures required for large-scale data center construction even as its long-term contracted revenue base expands.

Riot’s pivot reflects a wider industry trend. Miners with access to large, power-rich sites are increasingly leasing capacity to AI developers instead of relying exclusively on cryptocurrency mining. Industry executives attribute this shift to prolonged weakness in bitcoin mining, prompting operators to pursue steadier, longer-duration revenue streams aligned with the AI infrastructure boom. On the day the deal was announced, shares of comparable miners such as IREN, Applied Digital, and TeraWulf rose only about 2%, indicating the initial rally was driven by Riot-specific catalysts rather than a sector-wide revaluation.

For Anthropic, the Riot contract marks its third major computing capacity procurement in roughly three months. These infrastructure commitments, totaling tens of billions of dollars, are critical as the company scales to meet rising customer demand for its AI models while competing for resources against rivals like OpenAI and Google.

Riot acquired the 200-acre Rockdale property outright in January for $96 million, transitioning from a long-term ground lease to direct ownership of the land supporting both its bitcoin mining and data center operations. The company launched its data center division in earnest in 2025, recording its first data center revenue in the first quarter of 2026. That segment has since scaled rapidly amid accelerating national demand for AI computing capacity.

With construction underway and phased deliveries scheduled through mid-2028, investors will closely monitor Riot’s progress on the Rockdale expansion. The pace of construction and capacity activation will serve as a key metric for assessing how effectively the company converts its multibillion-dollar contract backlog into recognized revenue over the life of the agreement.