Bitfarms Ltd (NASDAQ: BITF) is gaining this morning after Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT) increased its stake in the Bitcoin miner to about $14%.
Riot now owns over 59 million Bitfarms shares
Riot Platforms loaded up on 1.43 million shares of Bitfarms on Thursday. In total, it now owns 59.2 million shares of BITF.
RIOT also reiterated plans of calling a special meeting of those invested in Bitfarms on Friday where it intends to nominate several independent directors to the crypto miner’s board.
The Nasdaq-listed firm has “serious concerns regarding the Board’s track record of poor corporate governance”, as per its press release on Friday.
Bitfarms stock is down more than 20% versus its year-to-date high at writing.
The news arrives more than a month after Riot Platforms reported its financial results for the first quarter that missed Street estimates.
BITF recently opted for a ‘poison pill’
Earlier in June, Bitfarms opted for a “poison pill” to ward off a potential hostile takeover from Riot Platforms for $2.30 per share.
RIOT first proposed (privately) to acquire Bitfarms in April – an offer that the latter rejected citing “significant undervaluation”. The $3.14 billion firm based out of Castle Rock, Colorado then took its $950 million proposal for the bitcoin miner public in May.
The digital infrastructure company is “reviewing its investment on a continuing basis” and may choose to adjust its stake in BITF based on several factors, including but not restricted to market conditions and financial status of the company.
Unlike Bitfarms stock, Riot shares are in the red at writing.
Bitfarms stock could hit $5.0 in 2024
Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald agree that $2.30 a share proposal from Riot Platforms did indeed undervalue Bitfarms Ltd as it the mining stock could hit $5.0 by the end of 2024.
They rate BITF at “overweight” as the crypto company is making significant moves to improve its mining capacity. Bitfarms will soon receive delivery of some 88,000 T21 mining rigs that will boost its hash rate sharply from 7 EH/S at writing to 21 EH/S by year-end.
The delivery will also improve “mining efficiency and reduce the overall cost to mine” for the Toronto headquartered firm, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts told clients in a research note last week.
They recommend owning Bitfarms stock also because the company recently secured another 100 megawatts of sustainable hydropower in Paraguay.
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