Hive Digital Technologies’ stock price surged on Monday, reaching its highest point of the year following the Bitcoin miner’s announcement of a significant data center expansion in Ontario, Canada.
The company’s shares traded around $3.39, reflecting a 26% increase for the day, according to Yahoo Finance. Just before Monday’s opening bell, Hive’s stock price briefly hit $3.92, temporarily extending its year-to-date gains beyond 35%.
AI Gigafactory Planned
Hive announced that its subsidiary, Buzz High Performance Computing, intends to build an “AI Gigafactory” in the Greater Toronto Area. The facility will have approximately 320 megawatts (MW) of utility capacity, sufficient to power at least 200,000 average homes.
The firm, which began its strategic shift away from being a pure-play Bitcoin miner in 2022, indicated that the artificial intelligence facility is expected to be one of the largest in Canada. Hive added that the site will support fully vertically integrated AI supercomputers upon completion.
In a statement, Hive and Buzz Executive Chairman Frank Holmes described the company’s latest move as a means to accelerate Canada’s tech boom, providing “sovereign AI infrastructure that turns Canadian intelligence into Canadian dominance.”
Buzz anticipates the Ontario facility will become operational in the second half of next year, which will likely require 800 construction workers. The total buildout is estimated to cost roughly $3.5 billion Canadian dollars ($2.55 billion), ultimately leading to the creation of highly skilled jobs.
Water-Efficient Design
At the same time, Hive stated that Buzz’s facility is designed to minimize water usage, incorporating closed-loop cooling systems. Across North America, local residents are increasingly voicing concerns about the proliferation of data centers, which have the potential to raise electricity rates due to their substantial power demands.
With a capacity of 320 MW, the Ontario site would bring Hive’s total global power capacity to 850 MW. Currently, the company utilizes 450 MW to power its data centers. Hive stated that it possesses sufficient land and power resources to establish facilities supporting approximately 130,000 GPUs.
Financial Performance and Bitcoin Holdings
In the three months ending December 31, Hive generated $88.2 million from mining digital assets, compared to $26.6 million a year earlier. High-performance computing revenue reached $4.8 million and $2.5 million, respectively, representing a smaller portion of its overall business.
As Hive has embraced AI, the company has reduced its Bitcoin holdings. As of December 31, the company held 481 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, recently valued at $36.7 million, with the digital asset trading around $76,300, according to CoinGecko. A year prior, Hive controlled 2,805 Bitcoin, a cache currently worth $214.5 million.
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