What's Going On With Shares Of Bitcoin Miner Riot Platforms Tuesday?

Riot Platforms Inc RIOT shares are trading higher. The company on Tuesday announced that it halted its previously announced Bitcoin BTC/USD mining expansion to evaluate AI and high-performance computing (HPC) opportunities.

What Happened: Riot announced that it’s launching a formal process to evaluate the potential development of the approximately 600 megawatts of remaining power capacity at the company’s Corsicana Facility for AI/HPC use cases.

The company has engaged data center industry consultant Altman Solon and other industry experts to assess the potential opportunity. Riot noted that it also plans to accelerate engagement with potential AI/HPC partners.

“While any conversion of our existing Bitcoin mining facilities to AI/HPC use presents meaningful challenges and investments of time, we believe there is a significant opportunity to maximize the value of the 600 MW of remaining capacity available at the Corsicana Facility and deliver substantial benefit for our shareholders,” said Jason Les, CEO of Riot.

Riot currently utilizes 400 megawatts of power capacity at the facility, but it’s approved for a total capacity of up to one gigawatt. The company said it’s halting the development of its previously announced 600-megawatt Phase II Bitcoin mining expansion at the Corsicana Facility.

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As a result of the mining expansion halt, Riot now expects to end the year with 38.4 EH/s of hash rate capacity, down from its previous guidance of 46.7 EH/s of hash rate capacity. Capital expenditures at the Corsicana Facility are now expected to be reduced by $245 million in 2025. Riot said it will provide additional updates as the review process progresses.

Riot investors appear to be responding favorably to the strategic pivot. Shares may also be getting a lift Tuesday morning as Bitcoin continues to climb. Bitcoin was up about 8.5% over the past week, hovering around $104,450 at the time of publication.

RIOT Price Action: Riot Platforms shares were up 5.1% at $14.07 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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