Unfazed by the recent bitcoin slide from its March 14 record highs, Bernstein raised its year-end forecast early Thursday. Cryptocurrency prices and related stocks staged a brisk rally.

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Bernstein on Tuesday hoisted its bitcoin price target to $90,000 by the end of the year, up from the prior outlook of $80,000, according to a Thursday research note first reported by CoinDesk.

The firm also boosted its outlook on cryptocurrency mining stocks, based on bitcoin’s run-up near $74,000 and positive reception to the new spot bitcoin ETFs.

“With a new bitcoin bull cycle, strong ETF inflows, aggressive miner capacity expansion, and all-time high miner dollar revenues, we continue to find bitcoin miners compelling buys for equity investors seeking exposure to the crypto cycle,” analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra wrote.

Bitcoin Price Targets Hiked

Bernstein now expects a 7% decrease in hash rate after the upcoming halving event in April due to shutdowns and consolidation, down from its prior forecast of a 15% decline. The hash rate is the computational power required to mine bitcoin.

Bernstein raised its price target on CleanSpark (CLSK) to $30 from $14.20 and kept an outperform rating on shares. It lowered its price target for Riot Platforms (RIOT) to $22 from $22.50 and has an outperform rating on the stock. The firm hoisted its price target on Marathon Digital (MARA) to $23 from $14.30. Bernstein has a market perform rating on MARA stock.

CLSK stock ticked up slightly Thursday, adding to its nearly 16% rally for the week. CleanSpark vaulted more than 83% so far this year.

Riot Platforms eased 0.8% Thursday as MarketSurge charts show it trending 12% lower on the month. RIOT stock has tumbled nearly 21% in 2024.

MARA stock faded 1.2% Thursday to test its 21-day exponential moving average. Marathon Digital retreated 5.2% year to date.

Elsewhere, shares of the new spot bitcoin ETFs rose around 1% during Thursday trade.

Bitcoin traded near $66,300 Thursday, up 7% from its 24-hour lows near $62,000. On March 14 bitcoin hit an all-time high of $73,798. But the cryptocurrency has fallen below its prior peak of $68,990 set in November 2021. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is now up about 55% so far this year, with most of the gains compounded in February and March.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) rattled off an 8% gain. Coinbase Global (COIN) jumped 4.9%.

You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison

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