New York, Jan 17, 2026, 07:20 EST — The market has closed.
- After a volatile two-day swing, MARA closed Friday up 6.6% at $11.36.
- Bitcoin miners mostly climbed as bitcoin hovered around $95,000, with peers pushing deeper into AI data-center contracts.
- U.S. markets remain closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day; attention turns to the reopening Tuesday and the Fed’s meeting later this week.
MARA Holdings shares jumped 6.6% to close at $11.36 on Friday, bouncing back after a steep decline the previous day. Trading volume hit roughly 51.6 million shares. (Yahoo Finance)
The timing is key with a long weekend ahead: U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so trading won’t resume until Tuesday. (NYSE)
Bitcoin miners represent the high-beta segment of crypto equities for traders. Their stocks tend to move more sharply whenever bitcoin tests or breaks key levels.
MARA dropped roughly 4% on Thursday following a flurry of analyst notes, including a target price cut from Piper Sandler that nonetheless maintained an “Overweight” rating. (Yahoo Finance)
Bitcoin held steady near $95,309, showing little movement on the day. Miners, however, ended Friday on a stronger note — Riot Platforms surged roughly 16%, CleanSpark climbed about 5%, and Cipher Mining gained over 7%. Riot’s spike came after announcing a data-center lease with chipmaker AMD, drawing attention to miners expanding beyond bitcoin production to selling power and data-center services. (Barron’s)
MARA operates large-scale bitcoin mining, a power-intensive process that transforms electricity into bitcoin through specialized machines. Profits can swing rapidly, influenced by bitcoin’s price, mining difficulty, and electricity expenses.
The company has laid out a broader “digital energy” strategy. In November, it signed a letter of intent with MPLX to back gas-fired power generation and data center campuses in West Texas. The initial plan covers 400 megawatts, with room to expand up to 1.5 gigawatts. This move aims to secure more stable revenue from compute and power infrastructure. “Collaborating with MPLX allows us to leverage lower-cost local natural gas resources,” CEO Fred Thiel said in the announcement. (MARA)
Macro factors might shake up trading next week. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Philip Jefferson described the Fed’s current policy as “well positioned” going into the Jan. 27–28 meeting — a stance that could rattle rate-sensitive assets and ripple through bitcoin-linked stocks. (Reuters)
The downside remains straightforward: if bitcoin drops sharply or mining profits shrink, miners could lose gains quickly. Any hold-up in converting power and data center projects into cash flow would leave these stocks trading mainly as leveraged bets on bitcoin.
Markets reopen Tuesday with eyes on whether bitcoin can maintain the $95,000 level and if the miner rally will hold. The Fed’s January 28 decision looms large, while earnings season in February might shift focus to individual company results. Zacks projects MARA’s next earnings report around February 25, although the company hasn’t listed any upcoming events on its IR calendar. (Zacks)
