The New Phase of Mining Stocks in the First Half of 2024: Growth and Strategic Shifts of 10 Listed Companies

In the first half of 2024, as Bitcoin’s halving event approached, the mining stock market experienced a significant turning point. U.S.-listed mining companies have been actively pursuing business restructuring, technological innovation, and diversification strategies to counteract the rapid compression of mining profits. According to data from CompaniesMarketCap, the total market capitalization of 21 U.S.-listed mining companies for the period reached $28.8 billion, with the top 10 mining stocks by size accounting for over 91.6% of the entire market.

Challenges and Opportunities Facing Mining Stocks After the Halving

Since early 2024, interest in mining stocks has surged dramatically. Particularly, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s strong support for Bitcoin mining activities has further bolstered institutional investors’ bullish stance. Meanwhile, mining companies facing profit margin compression are expanding their computing capacity through large-scale capital expenditures, accelerating industry consolidation and restructuring.

Investment firms like Bernstein and others are recommending investments in high-performing mining stocks. The overall stock price increase of listed mining companies since the beginning of the year has reached approximately 88.3%, with the market size exceeding $24.6 billion, indicating a rapid rise in market valuation for mining stocks.

Industry Leaders in Mining Stocks: Size and Profitability at the Forefront

Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) remains the largest listed mining company. With a market cap of $5.5 billion, it mined 4,277 BTC in the first half of 2024, with its market capitalization growing more than 14 times compared to 2022 during the same period. The company plans to double its computing power to 50 EH/s by the end of the year, and is also diversifying its business through optimizing mining machines and launching Bitcoin sidechain “Anduro.”

CleanSpark (CLSK) ranks second with a market cap of $4.03 billion. Its net profit in Q1 2024 exceeded $126.7 million, a 163% increase year-over-year, and it mined 3,746 BTC during the same period. The company announced plans to purchase 160,000 Bitmain S21 mining machines, demonstrating a clear strategy for accelerating capacity expansion. Its stock performance has risen nearly 103% since the start of the year, causing over $100 million in losses for short sellers.

Riot Blockchain (RIOT) posted a quarterly net profit exceeding $210 million in Q1 2024, setting a quarterly record. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, ranking third in the industry. With over $1.3 billion in cash and Bitcoin holdings, it is viewed as a leading candidate for industry consolidation. Riot is also actively pursuing external growth strategies, including an acquisition bid for Bitfarms.

Mid-sized to Emerging Mining Stocks: Diversification and Innovation Experiments

Phoenix Global (PHX.AE) completed an IPO on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange last year, led by the UAE, reaching a market cap of $2.96 billion. Its net profit in Q1 2024 surged 166% year-over-year to $87.93 million, demonstrating remarkable growth.

Iris Energy (IREN) mined 1,592 BTC in the first half of 2024, with mining revenue reaching $53.4 million during the same period. Its market cap is $1.93 billion. Highly rated by JP Morgan as a high-performance computing company, it owns over 2 GW of power development rights.

Core Scientific (CORZ) recovered from bankruptcy, reaching a market cap of $1.83 billion. Through a multi-year contract worth up to $3.5 billion with CoreWeave, it is actively transforming into an AI and HPC enterprise, mining 4,076 BTC in the first half of 2024, more than tripling since the beginning of the year.

Mining Stocks Driving Diversification and Technological Innovation

Cipher Mining (CIFR) has a market cap of $1.53 billion. Its net profit in Q1 2024 reached $40 million, with 1,483 BTC mined during the period. The company plans to expand its hash rate to 13.5 EH/s by upgrading its mining infrastructure significantly.

Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR) focuses on designing its own ASIC chips, with a market cap of $1.38 billion. Supported by capital from Tether Holdings Limited, it mined 1,360 BTC in the first half of 2024. Its next-generation mining machine development roadmap is also clearly outlined.

TeraWulf (WULF) has a market cap of $1.3 billion, mining 1,590 BTC in the first half of 2024. It has 160 MW of capacity at the Lake Mariner facility and 50 MW at the Nautilus facility, and is also exploring expansion into AI and GPU sectors.

Bitfarms (BITF) has a market cap of $1.18 billion. It mined 1,368 BTC in the first half of 2024, with mining revenue reaching $50 million in Q1. The company is investing approximately $240 million to expand its mining capacity to 21 EH/s, tripling its current capacity.

The Future of the Mining Stock Market: Consolidation and Restructuring Shaping the Industry

The most prominent feature of the mining stock market in the first half of 2024 is the shift from mere size pursuit to strategic differentiation. While facing common challenges such as profit margin compression, large companies are actively pursuing consolidation and restructuring, leading companies are diversifying their strategies, and emerging firms are innovating technologically.

Looking ahead, market share among mining stocks is expected to concentrate further in companies with stronger capital bases and technological capabilities. Elements such as expansion into AI and HPC sectors, chip design capabilities, and improvements in data center efficiency will be critical factors influencing competitiveness. The bullish evaluations from institutional investors like Bernstein reflect this industry restructuring trend.