IREN Vs MARA: Why JPMorgan Favors One Bitcoin Miner Turned AI Play Over The Other

JPMorgan's vertically integrated AI infrastructure gives it a more direct path to monetizing its power capacity, in contrast to MARA's partner-led data center approach, according to the bank.

• JPMorgan sees roughly 48% upside for IREN stock, calling it a “top-tier” neocloud provider. 
• The bank, however, double-downgraded MARA from overweight to underweight, referring to its ‘capital-light strategy’.
• The bank also slashed MARA's price target to $11 from $13.

Bitcoin (BTC) miners are being increasingly valued for what they can do with their power and data center infrastructure, and JPMorgan sees a clear winner emerging. Shares of MARA Holdings Inc. (MARA) and IREN Ltd. (IREN) were in the spotlight on Monday after JPMorgan made two conflicting calls on these Bitcoin miners. 

As per theFly, the bank double-downgraded MARA from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Underweight’ and double-upgraded IREN Ltd. (IREN) from ‘Underweight’ to 'Overweight,’ based on how each company was converting its power capacity into AI compute, according to the research note. 

IREN Called ‘Top-Tier’ Neocloud

IREN has developed and runs its own GPU fleet while MARA has retained the land underneath and handed development to a partner. Analyst Richard Choe also raised its price target from $46 to $65 on the IREN stock. Analyst Choe believes “IREN is establishing itself as a ' top-tier ' neocloud provider, backed by its strategic partnership with Nvidia (NVDA).”