So here's a thing that happens sometimes in the stock market: a company announces it's changing what it does, and investors get excited. On Tuesday, Cipher Digital Inc. (CIFR) did exactly that. The company, which you might remember as Cipher Mining, reported its 2025 results and unveiled a rebrand. More importantly, it signaled a strategic pivot away from just bitcoin mining and toward becoming a developer of high-performance computing (HPC) data centers. The stock jumped more than 10% on the news. And because a decent chunk of investors had been betting against it—more on that later—the move got a little extra juice.

Let's talk about the numbers first, because they're... interesting. For the fourth quarter, Cipher posted an adjusted loss per share of 14 cents, which was a bit wider than the 10-cent loss analysts were expecting. Revenue came in at $59.711 million, well below the consensus estimate of $86.847 million. For the full year, bitcoin mining revenue did grow to $223.942 million from $151.270 million in 2024. But on a GAAP basis, the net loss was a whopping $822.244 million, or $2.15 per share, compared to a $44.635 million loss the year before. Adjusted earnings were $22.236 million, with adjusted EPS of 6 cents, down from 33 cents in 2024. The operating loss was $421.563 million.

Okay, so the earnings report itself wasn't exactly a blowout. But the story here isn't about last quarter's revenue miss. It's about what the company says it's becoming. "Building on a transformative 2025, the fourth quarter reflected continued momentum as we advanced our evolution into a leading HPC data center development company," said CEO Tyler Page. He pointed to new leases and financing as evidence of the shift. "In recognition of this successful shift in our business model and strategic priorities going forward, we are proud to now officially operate as Cipher Digital."

And those new leases are the real headline. Cipher has locked down 600 megawatts of contracted capacity through two major deals. It signed a 15-year, 300 MW lease with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud arm of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN). It also secured a 10-year, 300 MW lease with Fluidstack and Google (GOOG), a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL). That's the kind of long-term, utility-style contract that can provide predictable revenue for years. The company says its Barber Lake project is about 95% ready on the equipment front, with all design milestones met, and the Black Pearl project is moving along on schedule.

To build these big data center projects, you need big money. Cipher went out and raised it. The company completed three high-yield bond offerings that together totaled $3.73 billion. That includes $1.4 billion and $333 million in senior secured notes at 7.125% for Barber Lake, and another $2.0 billion in senior secured notes at 6.125% for Black Pearl. By the end of the year, long-term borrowings stood at $2.711 billion, and there was a warrant liability of $525.160 million. The company also sold off some of its older bitcoin mining assets—a 49% interest in some joint venture sites and some machines—to Canaan Inc. (CAN) for about $40 million in stock.

So what's the financial picture after all this raising and spending? At year-end, Cipher reported total assets of $4.292 billion. That included $628.263 million in cash, $1.761 billion in current restricted cash, and $275.076 million in noncurrent restricted cash. It held $125.400 million worth of Bitcoin and had miners valued at $94.879 million marked for sale. On the other side of the ledger, total liabilities were $3.456 billion, and the company had an accumulated deficit of $1.004 billion. It's a balance sheet that shows both significant resources and significant obligations as the company funds its transformation.

The plan for 2026 is all about following through. "2026 is a year of execution for Cipher as we fully transition the business into a leading infrastructure platform," Page said. "With construction on track at our existing projects, a deep and expanding development pipeline, and heightened demand from both capital providers and tenants, we are firmly focused on establishing Cipher Digital as the premier developer and operator of data centers powering the next generation of compute."

Now, back to that stock pop. It's worth noting that Cipher came into this announcement with a sizable number of investors betting against it. There were 60.863 million shares sold short, representing 20.38% of the publicly traded float. That's a relatively high level of short interest. When a heavily shorted stock gets good news—or news that investors perceive as good—the resulting rally can be intensified as those short sellers scramble to cover their positions. It creates a bit of a squeeze. On Tuesday, Cipher Digital shares were up 10.09%, closing at $16.75. The company is betting its future on powering the computers that power AI and other advanced workloads. And for a day, at least, the market liked the sound of that plan.