Crypto mining stocks are hot right now, but not for the reason you might think. With the price of Bitcoin (BTC +1.07%) taking a nosedive below the $100,000 price level, crypto mining companies are now making a pivot from Bitcoin into artificial intelligence (AI).
Smaller Bitcoin mining companies have the edge here, given their ability to turn on a dime, and one of the companies on my radar right now is TeraWulf (WULF 3.91%), an AI-focused Bitcoin miner with a market cap of $7 billion. The company's stock is up 52% year to date, and more than 240% over the past year.
The AI pivot
Long story short, much of the massive computing power used to mine Bitcoin can now be used to power AI projects. And that's starting to excite a lot of Wall Street investment firms. Morgan Stanley, for example, recently initiated coverage of the Bitcoin mining sector, with a focus on finding undervalued AI infrastructure plays.
Image source: Getty Images.
Not surprisingly, TeraWulf was one of those potential AI infrastructure plays. Morgan Stanley emphasized TeraWulf's ability to execute on large-scale power infrastructure projects. Think: lots and lots of high-end data centers, all powering the latest AI innovations.
Plans call for TeraWulf continuing to grow its AI infrastructure footprint through 2030. As long as the demand for AI compute remains high, TeraWulf should continue to soar.
How much higher can WULF go?
Until late 2024, any growth estimates for TeraWulf would have been primarily tied to its ability to scale its Bitcoin mining operations. At the end of the day, TeraWulf would have been valued based on how much Bitcoin it held on its balance sheet, as well as how much higher the price of Bitcoin might soar in the future.
CRYPTO: BTC
Key Data Points
But TeraWulf has been shedding Bitcoin to help finance its AI compute operations. It's simply more profitable to be in the AI business right now than in the Bitcoin business. That's raising an interesting question for investors: Should the company be valued as a Bitcoin miner, or as an AI infrastructure play?
NASDAQ: WULF
Key Data Points
If the answer is "Bitcoin miner," then the upside of TeraWulf may be significantly capped, given that it owns a minimal amount of Bitcoin right now. But if the answer is "AI infrastructure play," then the sky's the limit. Morgan Stanley, for example, thinks TeraWulf could hit a price target of $37. That's more than double its current price of $17.
There are other Bitcoin mining companies making the same pivot to AI, but TeraWulf is among the best. It's hard to argue with a stock that's up more than 240% in 12 months.
