Benchmark raised its Hut 8 price target after the bitcoin miner signed a $9.8 billion AI data center deal, according to a report from Bitcoin Magazine. The firm’s note ties the higher target directly to the value of the new AI infrastructure contract, the outlet reported.Hut 8 has been building out AI data center capacity alongside its bitcoin mining business, and has disclosed large-scale leases at its sites this year. A separate report from Pulse 2.0 detailed a similarly sized $9.8 billion AI data center lease at Hut 8’s Beacon Point site earlier in the week, part of a pattern of billion-dollar, large-block contracts landing at the company in quick succession.What it means for operators: Price targets moving on the back of one $9.8 billion contract is a reminder of how much weight AI data center deals now carry, both for the operators signing them and for the capital markets watching them. Contracts of this size typically arrive in large, discrete blocks of new capacity that have to be powered and cooled on a compressed buildout schedule. Operators bringing that kind of block online need power and thermal headroom mapped at the rack and room level well before the load actually shows up, not after.Source: Bitcoin Magazine