WULF Stock Drops Despite Price Target Hikes From Wall Street On $19B Anthropic Lease

The deal follows TeraWulf's acquisition of Century's former Kentucky smelter, which is being redeveloped into a large-scale AI data-center campus.

• Needham raised its TeraWulf price target to $33 from $28, citing the company's $19 billion Anthropic lease, and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating.
• Analysts said the 20-year Anthropic agreement validated demand for AI infrastructure and established a long-term contracted revenue stream for TeraWulf.
• B. Riley lowered its Century Aluminum target to $74 from $86 on valuation grounds but still viewed the Anthropic deal as a positive for CENX through its stake in TeraWulf.

Analysts raised price targets on TeraWulf (WULF) and flagged fresh upside for Century Aluminum (CENX) on Tuesday, following the companies' $19 billion lease deal with Anthropic (ANTHZZX), even as one note trimmed its CENX target on valuation grounds.

Needham analyst John Todaro raised the firm's price target on TeraWulf to $33 from $28 while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares, as per TheFly. The company signed "one of the more attractive leases in the sector," which showed that demand remained robust, Todaro told investors in a research note. 

The firm's updated estimates included removing the Abernathy joint venture and adding the latest Justified data center lease, Needham added. From Monday’s close of $22, Needham sees about 50% upside on WULF. 

Rosenblatt also increased its price target on TeraWulf to $30 from $27 and has a 'Buy' rating on the shares.  The new contract with Anthropic is “a significant positive” that validates the company’s brownfield development strategy and increases confidence in its ability to attract top-tier hyperscaler tenants, analysts told investors.

On the other hand, B. Riley cut its price target on Century Aluminum to $74 from $86, while still framing the Anthropic deal as a positive for CENX through its equity stake in TeraWulf, according to the note. 

Century Aluminum's stake in TeraWulf gives investors indirect exposure to the company's AI data-center expansion despite the firms operating in different industries.

WULF’s stock was down over 12% in morning trade. On Stocktwits, it was the top trending ticker. Retail sentiment around WULF moved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ while chatter around it shifted to ‘extremely high’ from ‘high’ over the past day.

Anthropic Deal Drives Analyst Optimism

The analyst comments came as TeraWulf announced a 20-year lease with Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI model, at the Justified Data campus. 

The campus is expected to accommodate approximately 401 megawatts of critical IT load, developed in multiple phases, with initial capacity placed into service in the second half of 2027 and full capacity reached by early 2028. The lease is expected to generate approximately $19 billion in contracted revenue over its initial term and is expected to be supported by investment-grade credit, according to the company.

"The Anthropic lease validates our strategy and establishes a long-duration revenue stream with one of the world's leading AI companies," Prager said in the release.

Anthropic Lease Followed February Smelter Acquisition

TeraWulf acquired the former Century Aluminum smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky, in February this year for $200 million, with plans to redevelop the site into a purpose-built AI infrastructure campus. TeraWulf Chairman and CEO Paul Prager said at the time that the company expected to secure a major customer commitment by around the end of the second quarter of 2026.

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