Macquarie analyst Paul Golding initiates bitcoin miner Iris Energy (NASDAQ:IREN) with an Outperform rating on the basis of the company's incremental development of renewable generation infrastructure at affordable rates, he writes in a note to clients. Additionally, the analyst complements the company's "impressive" downside protection in terms of purchase price for forward deliveries based on fluctuations in the price of bitcoin (BTC-USD). Applies a $31 per share price target, implying about 135% upside from Friday's close; derived from ~1.7x average enterprise value/exahash per second based on the average multiple for funded vs. contracted EH/s comps, the note says. Furthermore, JPMorgan analyst Reginald Smith initiates Iris Energy (IREN) at an Overweight rating, saying it's the "single best way to gain long exposure to Bitcoin prices," and some downside protection should prices fall, Smith writes in a note to clients. IREN is the "cheapest miner in the space on a contracted hashrate
