--- title: "Why Cipher Mining Stock Is Surging On Wednesday?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/287094536.md" description: "Cipher Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:CIFR) stock surged on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $40.5 to $42.5, maintaining an overweight rating. The company's focus on high-performance computing and AI infrastructure has attracted positive analyst attention, with other firms also increasing their price forecasts. Despite a Q1 earnings miss, optimism remains strong due to operational milestones and a rise in short interest, which could lead to a short squeeze. CIFR shares rose 5.80% to $19.89." datetime: "2026-05-20T16:00:45.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/287094536.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287094536.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/287094536.md) --- # Why Cipher Mining Stock Is Surging On Wednesday? **Cipher Mining Inc.** (NASDAQ:CIFR) shares are compounding gains on Wednesday, driven by Wall Street's growing enthusiasm for the company's high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence infrastructure strategy. ## Morgan Stanley Leads Bullish Price Forecast Revisions **Morgan Stanley** analyst **Stephen Byrd** fueled Wednesday's momentum by maintaining an overweight rating on Cipher Mining and raising the price forecast from $40.5 to $42.5. This follows a wave of positive analyst actions. On Friday, **Needham** analyst **John Todaro** maintained a buy rating and lifted his target from $22 to $25. Additionally, **Jefferies** analyst **Jonathan Petersen** initiated coverage last Thursday with a buy rating and a $32 price forecast. ## AI Data Center Pivot Captures Wall Street Interest In its May 5 earnings update, CEO **Tyler Page** stated, "We built on the strong momentum from last year by signing our third AI data center campus lease with an investment-grade Hyperscale tenant in the first quarter." Cipher currently boasts 907 MW of operating and contracted capacity alongside a ~3.3 GW grid-connected pipeline. Notably, the company holds 700 MW of contracted HPC capacity, representing over $11.4 billion in contracted revenue. ## Fueling the Fire: Short Interest Risks Tightening Compounding the upward price action is a notable rise in short interest. During the last reporting period, short interest ticked up from 55.71 million to 55.95 million shares, tying up 16.69% of the company's float. Based on an average daily volume of 23.45 million shares, short sellers would need 2.39 days to cover their positions, exposing the stock to potential short-squeeze dynamics as it moves higher. ## Operational Milestones Offset Q1 Earnings Miss The analyst optimism helps overshadow a weaker first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings report, where revenue of $34.84 million missed the consensus of $36.01 million. Page noted that construction remains on track, stating, "Looking forward, we will continue to build on this momentum and establish ourselves as the leading HPC development platform." **CIFR Price Action:** Cipher Digital shares were up 5.80% at $19.89 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Over the past month, CIFR has gained about 4.0% versus a 4.2% rise in the S&P 500 and is up roughly 32% year-to-date compared to the index's 7.8% gain. _Photo Courtesy: Piotr Swat on Shutterstock.com_ ### Related Stocks - [CIFR.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CIFR.US.md) - [MS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS.US.md) - [JEF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/JEF.US.md) - [.SPX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.SPX.US.md) - [MS-O.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-O.US.md) - [MS-Q.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-Q.US.md) - [MS-E.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-E.US.md) - [MS-I.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-I.US.md) - [MS-L.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-L.US.md) - [MS-P.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-P.US.md) - [MS-A.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-A.US.md) - [MS-F.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-F.US.md) - [MS-K.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MS-K.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong Invests $1.58 Million in Cipher Mining Inc. $CIFR](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287029144.md) - [Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) Shares Down 9% After Insider Selling](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286582580.md) - [This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Cipher Digital](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286432147.md) - [Cipher Digital Co-President, COO Sold Shares Worth Over $929K](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286474833.md) - [Greenidge Generation Q1 revenue rises on power sales, loss narrows](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286768420.md)