MARA Just Bought a Power Plant. It’s No Longer Just a Bitcoin Miner
Key Stats for MARA Holdings Stock
- 52-Week Range: $6.66 – $23.45
- Current Price: $12.12
- Street Mean Target: $18.13
- Market Cap: ~$4.62B
- YTD Return: +22.3%
- Q1 2026 Revenue: $174.6M (-18% YoY)
- Energy Cost per BTC Mined: $40.47
- Net Debt: $1.95B
MARA Holdings (MARA) is not the Bitcoin miner most investors think it is. The company still mines Bitcoin efficiently, but its strategic direction has shifted materially over the past year.
MARA now owns a natural gas power plant, is building an AI data center campus, runs a digital asset management business, and is expanding internationally.
The stock is up 22% year to date but still sits 48% below its 52-week high, caught between a compelling long-term pivot and a near-term income statement that still shows heavy losses driven by Bitcoin price volatility and infrastructure investment.
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Mining Economics Are Improving While the Business Evolves
MARA Holdings, Inc. mines Bitcoin by running specialized computers that validate transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain in exchange for newly issued coins.
Scale and energy cost are the two variables that determine profitability: the more hashrate you operate and the cheaper your power, the more Bitcoin you earn relative to what it costs you.
MARA operates 53.7 exahashes per second of mining capacity, up 33% year over year, and mines Bitcoin at an energy cost of around $40 per coin, one of the lowest in the industry.
At current Bitcoin prices well above that level, the mining operation generates meaningful gross profit on every coin produced.
Gross margins tell the efficiency story across time. After the 2022 crypto crash compressed margins to 38%, the business recovered steadily: 45% in 2023, 46% in 2024, and 48% in 2025. MARA mined 2,247 Bitcoin in Q1 2026 at an energy cost of $40.47 per coin, reflecting the benefit of owning and controlling its power infrastructure.
Q1 2026 revenue came in at $174.6 million, down 18% from Q1 2025’s elevated base as Bitcoin prices fluctuated, which is a pattern investors in this space accept as the cost of Bitcoin price exposure.
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Long Ridge Changes the Entire Story
The acquisition that changes how investors should think about MARA is Long Ridge, a 485-megawatt natural gas power plant in Ohio that MARA now owns outright. Previously, MARA had to purchase power from utilities at market prices to run its miners.
Owning the plant gives MARA control over its own power supply, dramatically lowers its cost per coin, and creates optionality the company is actively pursuing through an AI data center campus on the same site.
The revenue chart shows both the historical compounding and what consensus expects going forward. Revenue grew from $118 million in 2022 to $907 million in 2025, driven by Bitcoin price appreciation and hashrate expansion.
Forward estimates show a dip to around $799 million in 2026 and $745 million in 2028 before a sharp jump toward $2.1 billion in 2029.
The unusual dip-then-spike shape reflects what analysts expect: near-term revenue compression as Bitcoin mining income fluctuates, followed by a meaningful step-up when the Long Ridge AI campus contribution is expected to come online.
The company also holds approximately $8 billion in Bitcoin on its balance sheet, and international expansion is underway in Paraguay and Abu Dhabi.
Read the full MARA Holdings Transcript on TIKR to see the 2026 guidance breakdown >>>
Should You Invest in MARA Holdings?
Eleven analysts cover the stock, with 5 Buys, 3 Outperforms, 4 Holds, and 1 Sell. The mean target sits at around $18, implying roughly 50% upside from the current price near $12.
The high target of $30 reflects what the most optimistic analysts believe the Long Ridge campus and digital asset management business could eventually be worth, while the low of $5.50 suggests at least one analyst believes the pivot is already fully priced at current levels.
MARA is simultaneously a leveraged Bitcoin bet and an early-stage infrastructure pivot. The Bitcoin position means the stock will continue to move significantly with Bitcoin prices, as the $1.3 billion net loss in Q1 2026 illustrates, the majority of which reflected mark-to-market moves rather than operational deterioration.
The Long Ridge thesis is genuinely interesting: a company that owns its own power plant, mines Bitcoin at below-market energy costs, and is building AI data center capacity on the same campus is a different animal from a pure-play miner.
Building a hyperscale AI campus is capital-intensive and competitive, and MARA carries $1.95 billion in net debt that limits financial flexibility. At $12 with a mean analyst target around $18, the market is pricing in meaningful uncertainty about whether the pivot succeeds on the timeline the 2029 revenue estimates imply.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
