Barber Lake Contract Lifts Contracted Revenue to $9.1 Billion Over 20 Years
Key Facts
Cipher Digital expanded the lease agreement for its Barber Lake site, lifting the site’s contracted revenue to $9.1 billion as part of the company’s plan to develop data centers for high-performance computing. In its third-quarter results statement, the company said other sites had received conditional studied-load designations and controllable temporary-load resource assignments totaling an additional 1.6 gigawatts of capacity. The $9.1 billion figure applies to Barber Lake alone, while investors are presented with total contracted revenue of $16.6 billion for the entire portfolio. The company said its contracted high-performance computing capacity totals 700 megawatts across the portfolio. The expansion comes as the company shifts toward leasing computing capacity; during the quarter, it recorded its first high-performance computing lease revenue after leasing began at the Black Pearl site.
The amended Barber Lake contract has a 20-year initial term and covers a site designed to host 300 megawatts of contracted high-performance computing capacity. The company’s comparison shows that before the amendment, the contract had a 10-year term and $3.8 billion in contracted revenue. In an announcement dated September 25, 2026, the company said extending the term to 20 years lifted the site’s contracted revenue to more than $9 billion. The third-quarter presentation values the contract at $9.1 billion, while keeping the initial contract term at 20 years and capacity at 300 megawatts. These terms give the site a long-term contractual framework, while the conversion of planned capacity into actual operations is tied to the data hall delivery schedule.
The company set out phased deliveries of Barber Lake data halls, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026 and continuing through the first quarter of 2027. In its investor presentation, it said construction was on track, with individual halls to be delivered during that period. The schedule distributes execution across phases rather than setting a single date for delivery of the entire site. The move follows the contract extension and increase in contracted revenue, while the announced delivery dates remain the company’s timeline for the project. The site therefore combines an initial contract term of 20 years, contracted capacity of 300 megawatts and a delivery schedule spanning the final two quarters of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027.
Alongside Barber Lake, Cipher said it had begun developing lateral natural gas pipelines that could support up to 2.5 gigawatts of on-site generation for data center expansion. The development offers an additional way to support the power capacity tied to the company’s plans, alongside the conditional load designations announced for other sites. The company also acquired the 70-megawatt Horizon site in Texas and expects it to begin operations in 2029. Horizon adds to the list of sites under development by the company, but remains a project with an expected operating date in 2029. These plans show that Cipher’s data center expansion includes existing sites, future projects and initiatives related to power supply.
In its third-quarter 2026 results, the company reported revenue of $27 million, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came to negative $10 million. In the same period, Cipher recorded its first high-performance computing lease revenue following the start of leasing at Black Pearl. The results place the start of lease revenue alongside the company’s quarterly performance as it expands its data center contracts and contracted capacity. Total contracted revenue for the portfolio is $16.6 billion, with contracted high-performance computing capacity of 700 megawatts, according to the investor presentation. The company also said it completed an offering of $850 million in convertible notes due in 2032, with the financing supporting additional investment in Barber Lake tied to the lease expansion.
The Colchis site received a conditional 1-gigawatt base-load designation, according to the company’s statement. The designation is conditional, and the company said it expects the final designation in December 2026. This adds to the conditional studied-load designations for other sites, which include an additional 1.6 gigawatts of capacity and assignments for controllable temporary-load resources. The final designation at Colchis therefore remains a stated milestone to watch during December. In trading on November 3, 2026, CIFR shares closed at $8.12, compared with a close of $6.86 on November 2.