Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) saw its shares jump more than 22% in premarket trading on Tuesday following the disclosure of a landmark 20-year lease agreement to develop a 191-megawatt AI data center at its Rockdale facility. The contract, valued at approximately $9.1 billion in expected base revenue, represents the company's largest infrastructure deal to date and signals a strategic shift from pure-play bitcoin mining toward high-performance computing hosting.
The tenant, identified by Bloomberg as Anthropic, a leading frontier AI lab, will lease the capacity through June 2048. Riot has not officially confirmed the tenant’s identity, but the deal's scale has captured Wall Street's attention. The agreement includes two five-year extension options that could push the total contract value to $16.1 billion, though those extensions are not guaranteed.
Under the lease terms, Riot expects to generate average annual net operating income (NOI) of $365 million to $411 million over the base term. That figure represents a significant leap from the company's current data center revenue run rate, which was $23.2 million in the second quarter of 2026. The projected NOI is 3.9 to 4.4 times that current run rate, underscoring the transformative nature of the deal.
Chief Executive Jason Les called the lease "a defining moment in our evolution into a leading developer of large-scale data centers." He noted that Riot has now contracted 241 megawatts of capacity in six months, representing about $9.8 billion of long-term revenue. The remaining 50 megawatts are tied to an existing agreement with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), of which 25 megawatts are already operational and another 25 are under construction.
The first phase of the new AI lease, comprising 96 megawatts, is scheduled for delivery in December 2027, with full build-out expected by June 2028. This timeline leaves significant execution risk, as the project depends on phased construction, tenant credit support, and final financing. Riot has disclosed a $573 million interim facility from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to cover initial development costs, but an investment-grade credit backstop is still being finalized.
Financially, Riot ended the second quarter with more than $1.2 billion in liquid assets, including $548.9 million in cash and 11,380 bitcoin, though portions of these are restricted or pledged. The company's balance sheet provides some cushion, but analysts caution that delays, cost inflation, or weaker bitcoin prices could force additional debt or equity funding.
The revenue mix is also shifting. In Q2 2026, Riot reported total revenue of $174.2 million, up 13.9% year-over-year. Bitcoin mining contributed $113.7 million, down 19.3% from the prior year, while data center revenue reached $23.2 million and engineering services brought in $37.3 million. The decline in mining revenue reflects weaker bitcoin prices and network economics, making the AI pivot increasingly important.
Wall Street has been bullish on Riot even before this announcement. A recent poll showed 20 Buy ratings, one Hold, and no Sells, with an average price target of $29.66. That target is likely to be revised upward as analysts digest the new contract. Brokerage actions in recent weeks include Keefe, Bruyette & Woods maintaining a Buy with a $35 target, Morgan Stanley initiating Overweight at $36, and BTIG reiterating Buy at $40.
The next catalyst is the delivery of AMD's 10-megawatt phase in November 2026, which will test Riot's ability to execute on time and on budget. For the larger AI lease, investors will need to wait until December 2027 for the first 96 megawatts, watching closely whether the interim financing transforms into a durable credit-backed structure. The deal marks a bold bet on the intersection of AI infrastructure and bitcoin mining, but execution will be key.
