Hut 8 extends gains after announcing first data center lease

** Shares of crypto miner-turned-AI infrastructure provider HUT 8 HUT rise 1.8% to $40.89 premarket

** HUT had closed ~9% higher on Wednesday after announcing an AI infrastructure partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack

** "We view HUT's first HPC (high-performance compute) data center lease as a game-changer, as we believe the deal vaults the company to the top of the Bitcoin miner-turned-HPC hosting leaderboard" - Rosenblatt Securities

** Brokerage says lease firmly establishes the company as an institutional-grade AI infrastructure developer

** Northland Securities says it is "very exciting to see a new lease announcement following a month-long lull period filled with speculation around AI and infrastructure providers"

** 15 analysts rate the stock 'buy' on average, with a median PT of $60 - data compiled by LSEG

** As of last close, stock up 96% this year