RIOT vs CLSK Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Riot Platforms pursues scale and vertical integration with a heavy Texas power-market focus, while CleanSpark emphasizes operational efficiency and opportunistic, capital-disciplined growth across a more geographically diversified footprint. Both are leveraged, high-beta proxies for bitcoin price, but they take different paths to hash rate growth and cost control.
Use this RIOT vs CLSK comparison to evaluate two different bitcoin mining strategies: Riot's scale-and-power-market approach versus CleanSpark's efficiency-and-opportunistic-acquisition approach. Both stocks move heavily with bitcoin price and mining economics, so relative differentiation comes down to cost structure and capital allocation discipline.
RIOT holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. RIOT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-29.96% vs -59.70%), though CLSK has the better forward P/E setup (-7.76x vs -19.93x for RIOT). RIOT leads on both revenue growth (13.90%) and operating margin (-122.33%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for CLSK (+116.53%) than for RIOT (+73.88%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to one of the largest self-mining hash rate operators in North America
- Believe ERCOT demand-response and curtailment credits provide a durable cost advantage
- Are comfortable with high bitcoin-price sensitivity given large held reserves
- Value vertical integration into power infrastructure as a long-term moat
- Prefer a bitcoin miner with a track record of disciplined, opportunistic capital allocation
- Value geographic diversification across multiple state power markets
- Want exposure to fleet efficiency gains as a differentiator versus pure scale
- Are comfortable with the same high bitcoin-price sensitivity common across mining stocks
| Metric | RIOT | CLSK |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 52.6 | 23.4 |
| AI ranki | #293 | #3471 |
| Latest closei | $15.50 | $9.35 |
| 1M returni | -21.32% | -25.91% |
| 3M returni | -17.64% | -27.52% |
| 6M returni | -8.39% | -18.13% |
| 1Y returni | -29.96% | -59.70% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | RIOT | CLSK |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $7K (-30.0%) started 2025-10-15 | $4.03K (-59.7%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $5.57K (-44.3%) started 2021-10-15 | $5.92K (-40.8%) started 2021-10-15 |
| 10Y ago | $78K (+680.0%) started 2016-10-17 | $2.68K (-73.2%) started 2016-11-16 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | RIOT | CLSK |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $6.99B | $2.82B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | -19.93 | -7.76 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 10.50 | 6.51 |
| Analyst targeti | $32.40 | $23.81 |
| Target upsidei | +73.88% | +116.53% |
| Metric | RIOT | CLSK |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 13.90% | -30.50% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growthi | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margini | -106.57% | +7.20% |
| Operating margini | -122.33% | -165.19% |
| Profit margini | -196.28% | -146.90% |
| ROIC proxyi | -48.24% | -68.62% |
| Return on equityi | -48.24% | -68.62% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | N/A |
| Betai | 3.85 | 3.89 |
| Debt/equityi | 40.03 | 234.72 |
| Current ratioi | 1.58 | 5.91 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.17 | 1.34 |
Over the past year, RIOT and CLSK have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.84), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | RIOT | CLSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -29.96% | -59.70% |
| CAGRi | -29.98% | -59.72% | |
| Volatilityi | 88.51% | 91.94% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.02 | -0.58 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.03 | -0.85 | |
| Max drawdowni | 48.57% | 64.74% | |
| Current drawdowni | 45.97% | 59.70% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 25.64% | 44.15% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 28.71% | 45.64% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.71% | 19.13% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.93% | 34.35% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -44.34% | -40.79% |
| CAGRi | -11.06% | -9.95% | |
| Volatilityi | 94.36% | 101.34% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.29 | 0.35 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.45 | 0.55 | |
| Max drawdowni | 92.55% | 92.00% | |
| Current drawdowni | 64.92% | 60.04% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 69.82% | 57.41% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 71.60% | 61.34% | |
| Max daily dropi | 19.18% | 19.13% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 40.88% | 34.89% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +595.24% | -73.21% |
| CAGRi | +21.41% | -12.44% | |
| Volatilityi | 112.53% | 184.25% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.67 | 0.51 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.12 | 1.15 | |
| Max drawdowni | 98.32% | 98.56% | |
| Current drawdowni | 80.10% | 87.19% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 73.87% | 74.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 78.36% | 78.10% | |
| Max daily dropi | 33.90% | 52.19% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 43.31% | 63.11% |
| Category | RIOT | CLSK |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Riot Platforms, Inc. | CleanSpark, Inc. |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Capital Markets | Capital Markets |
| Core business | Large-scale Bitcoin mining company operating industrial-scale facilities in Texas, including its Rockdale and Corsicana sites, with a strategy emphasizing scale, vertical integration, and grid-curtailment revenue from ERCOT demand-response programs. | Bitcoin mining company focused on low-cost energy sourcing and operational efficiency, operating mining facilities across Georgia, Mississippi, Wyoming, and other states, with an opportunistic acquisition strategy for distressed or undervalued mining sites. |
| Investor focus | Hash rate expansion, all-in power cost per bitcoin mined, ERCOT curtailment credits, and the pace of bitcoin holdings accumulation versus sales. | Hash rate growth per dollar of capital deployed, energy cost per bitcoin mined, fleet efficiency (miner generation mix), and bitcoin treasury strategy. |
- One of the largest self-mining hash rate operators in North America with significant scale advantages
- Texas-based facilities benefit from ERCOT demand-response programs that can generate meaningful curtailment credit revenue
- Vertically integrated approach, including power infrastructure development, supports long-term cost control
- Track record of acquiring mining sites and equipment opportunistically at favorable valuations during industry downturns
- Focus on operational efficiency and low energy costs relative to some scale-focused peers
- Diversified facility footprint across multiple states reduces single-region power and regulatory risk
- High sensitivity to bitcoin price given large mined-and-held reserves and mining-driven revenue model
- Post-halving mining economics require continued efficiency gains and low-cost power to sustain margins
- Regulatory and grid-policy risk given reliance on Texas power markets and demand-response revenue
- High sensitivity to bitcoin price and mining difficulty adjustments that can compress margins quickly
- Continued reliance on equity or debt issuance to fund fleet expansion and acquisitions
- Competitive hash rate arms race requiring ongoing capital investment to avoid share erosion
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