Analyst-Favorite Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark: Worth the Hype?
CleanSpark Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSK) is a Bitcoin mining firm with operations throughout the Southeastern and Southwestern United States. While many companies focus on cryptocurrency mining, CleanSpark's unique background, which was an energy resource firm and then a clean microgrid energy company for many years before entering the crypto space, makes it stand out.
The firm has no shortage of enthusiasts. Despite shares declining about 15% so far in 2025, it is the recipient of seven Buy ratings from analysts across Wall Street. These include ratings provided in recent weeks by firms including Chardan Capital and Needham & Co. Further, analysts have set a consensus price target of $21.57 for CLSK shares, approaching triple the current share price.
Investors will want to know if CleanSpark can live up to the hype amid the latest Bitcoin rally, particularly those investors reluctant to enter a position in a firm linked with the volatile cryptocurrency space. While CleanSpark does exist in a turbulent and ever-changing industry, it has noted numerous achievements that help to set it apart from other firms attempting similar operations.
Bitcoin and No HPC or AI
CleanSpark's advantage over some of its competitors is that it has focused primarily on Bitcoin mining for the last several years, forgoing a broader approach that might also include high-performance computing (HPC) or AI applications.
This is evidenced by CleanSpark's modest decline YTD compared to that of other competitors, even mining operations like MARA Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), which has fallen by about 23% in the same period.
This efficiency of operations is reflected in CleanSpark's costs associated with mining. The company said its costs to mine a Bitcoin in the final quarter of 2024 were roughly $34,000, lower than those of many competitors with a broader range of operations and services.
Growing Capacity While Maintaining Energy Efficiency
CleanSpark has grown its computing capacity to allow it to maintain or even grow its mining rates. For April 2025, the company achieved an average hash rate of over 40 EH/s, or exahash per second (reflecting one quintillion hashes per second). The higher a miner's hash rate, the greater the number of computations they complete per second, and the better their chances of successfully mining Bitcoin become.
This growth has been possible thanks to CleanSpark's background as a clean energy firm, allowing it to improve its mining capacity while maintaining efficiency. The company mined 633 Bitcoin in April 2025, reaching a total Bitcoin holding of more than 12,000 by the end of the month.
In March, the company set a record production of more than 700 Bitcoin. It plans to continue increasing output by close to 20% this year.
Financials Provide Stability Despite Coin Fluctuations
Even as Bitcoin's price swings up and down, sometimes wildly, CleanSpark's financial standing provides it with some key stability. First, its low costs-to-mine give it an advantage over competitors in terms of gross margin. As production levels increase, this should only help to strengthen CleanSpark's position.
The company has been largely successful in maintaining market discipline regarding its Bitcoin sales. In April, CleanSpark sold more than 401 Bitcoin at an average price above $90,000, even as Bitcoin's price hovered below that figure for more than two-thirds of the month.
CleanSpark has also taken steps to ensure its budget remains viable, recently securing a $200-million revolving credit facility with Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), which should allow it to continue successfully managing its liquidity and operational expenses.
At current price levels, CleanSpark's Bitcoin reserves total about $1.2 billion, while its total market capitalization is $2.3 billion. The company is not the best value prospect among Bitcoin miners—its price-to-sales ratio of 4.86 is not as compelling, for example, as that of Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ: HUT), as the latter firm comes in at 1.98.
However, CleanSpark's unique efficiency, its savvy handling of its Bitcoin reserves and sales, and the prospect of increased production going forward all lend credence to widespread analyst optimism around this company.
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