Bitcoin miners' AI deals grow larger but lose appeal to stock investors

Bitcoin mining companies pivoting toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure are landing bigger and more lucrative contracts, but the market's appetite for rewarding such announcements has cooled markedly, according to analysis by Blocksbridge Consulting.

Reviewing 25 AI and HPC infrastructure deals announced between June 2024 and August 2026, the report found average stock gains on announcement day fell from roughly 24% for early deals to about 10% for recent ones. Median gains dropped by approximately half, even though annualized revenue per contracted megawatt edged higher, indicating individual contracts are becoming more profitable.

Earlier deals generated outsized market reactions. Core Scientific's initial CoreWeave hosting agreement pushed shares up more than 40%, Applied Digital's first lease gained nearly 49%, and TeraWulf's initial Fluidstack deal surged almost 60%. By contrast, more recent major announcements drew muted responses: TeraWulf's 401-megawatt Anthropic lease lifted shares about 5%, CleanSpark's $6.6 billion agreement gained nearly 9%, and Bitdeer's Tydal contract briefly rose roughly 12% before those gains evaporated by market close.

The broader performance of mining stocks that have embraced AI workloads reflects this cooling enthusiasm. TheEnergyMag's index tracking publicly traded companies in AI data center development is down roughly 28.5% from its June peak, suggesting investors now emphasize execution, financing and long-term profitability over headline contract announcements.