By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) shares rose 7% Friday after Jefferies said the company is "on pace to become the largest public BTC miner" in 2022.
Jefferies analyst Jonathan Petersen initiated coverage on Marathon Digital with a buy rating and $51 price target.
The analyst explained that even though the recent selloff in bitcoin "moderates the revenue growth outlook," they still "expect ~80% mining margins and a 12-18 month payback period on recent ASIC miner purchases."
"We estimate that BTC will rise at a +32% CAGR through '24 and that MARA's revenue and EBITDA will rise at a +120% and +95% CAGR, respectively. As such, we view the miners as a better investment than BTC."
MARA's shares are down 36% since the start of the year, but today's comments from Peterson have lifted them over 8% off their recent lows to around the $21.40 level. In November, they traded over the $80 mark.
On Wednesday, the company appointed Ashu Swami as chief technology officer.