NEW YORK, July 6, 2026, 12:10 (EDT)
- MARA Holdings, Inc. NASDAQ:MARA was up 6.4% at $13.19 around midday, beating out Bitcoin’s 1.4% rise and the 1.8% move for Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 NASDAQ:QQQ.
- TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQ:WULF signed a 20-year AI power lease with Anthropic, setting a market value near $19 billion for 401 MW, according to .
- MARA’s $1.5 billion purchase of Long Ridge comes out to around 30% of its $5.01 billion market cap. The stock now hinges on whether its tenant base holds up.
- Analyst price targets are mixed. Benzinga has a consensus at $17.49, Citizens is at $24, while the lowest call on the Street is $7.
MARA Holdings, Inc. NASDAQ:MARA jumped 6.4% to $13.19 around midday Monday. Bitcoin-mining and AI-infrastructure stocks outpaced Bitcoin after TeraWulf reported new numbers tied to AI power leases. Bitcoin was up 1.4% at $63,519. Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 NASDAQ:QQQ added 1.8%.
MARA hasn’t posted a press release since May 15, according to its feed. So traders were mostly reacting to numbers from sector peer TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQ:WULF instead of any new MARA news on Monday. The headline there is TeraWulf’s 20-year hosting deal with Anthropic, locking in around $19 billion in revenue at its 401-MW Kentucky facility.
| Asset or stock | Near-midday price | Monday move | Read-through |
|---|---|---|---|
| MARA Holdings, Inc. NASDAQ:MARA | $13.19 | +6.4% | Stock traded more on AI option ideas than as a straight Bitcoin play. |
| Bitcoin | $63,519 | +1.4% | Crypto names had a lift, but that’s not the whole story for the stock. |
| Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 NASDAQ:QQQ | $725.11 | +1.8% | Tech was strong, but MARA’s jump was more than triple that. |
| TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQ:WULF | $23.94 | +13.0% | Anthropic lease made it a clear winner. |
| IREN Ltd. NASDAQ:IREN | $44.38 | +14.3% | Bid in peers shows there’s more than one play in power-for-AI. |
The new benchmark is dollars per megawatt. TeraWulf’s contract works out to around $2.4 million per MW per year before expenses. MARA says Long Ridge could handle up to 600 gross MW of AI and high-value IT load. That’s not a MARA projection, but investors can use it as a reference for an uncommitted site.
| AI-power yardstick | Confirmed or derived figure | Investor use |
|---|---|---|
| TeraWulf-Anthropic lease | ~$19 bln total over 20 years, around 401 MW | Works out to nearly $2.4 mln per MW each year in booked revenue. |
| MARA Long Ridge potential AI/Critical IT load | Up to 600 MW possible, no timeline | This is the bulk power number investors are modeling before a tenant signs. |
| Yardstick applied to 600 MW | About $1.4 bln in yearly headline gross; not management outlook | Explains why tenant news could swing the stock more than daily Bitcoin moves. |
MARA said in April it will buy Long Ridge Energy & Power from FTAI Infrastructure Inc. NASDAQ:FIP for $1.5 billion including debt. Assets in the deal are a 505-MW combined-cycle gas plant in Hannibal, Ohio, plus over 1,600 acres. MARA said the site could handle more than 1 GW of power across generation and load.
The $1.5 billion deal is big compared to MARA’s $5.01 billion market cap, coming in at around 30% of its value. Long Ridge isn’t a small side investment here; it’s more of a proof point for MARA to show it can lock in tenant-backed cash flow.
MARA CEO Fred Thiel summed it up in April: “Power is the scarce input in AI.” Thiel told Reuters about the Long Ridge deal that the site has “all the key components” for a data-center campus. MARA
Here’s the difference: TeraWulf got a tenant. The company named Anthropic and has a lease signed. CEO Paul Prager called it a “long-duration revenue stream.” MARA, on the other hand, has said it’s seen interest from potential investment-grade AI or IT tenants for Hannibal, but hasn’t announced anyone signed at Long Ridge. Investing News Network (INN)
| Forecast or rating item | Target | Implied move vs $13.19 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benzinga says 20 analysts come to a $17.49 consensus target | $17.49 | +33% | Consensus rating is called Neutral. |
| StockAnalysis average from 14 analysts for 12 months | $18.54 | +41% | Average call is Buy. |
| Greg P. Miller at Citizens set target at $24 | $24.00 | +82% | Initiated Market Outperform June 24. |
| Bernstein dropped its target to $17 | $17.00 | +29% | Moved to Market Perform, was $23. |
| Street numbers in Benzinga span $7 to $30 | $7 to $30 | -47% to +127% | Low side from Morgan Stanley, high from Compass Point. |
The targets tell the story. MARA jumped 6% on peer headlines but it’s still trading under the $17-$24 range analysts have set. On the downside, the $7 price target is nearly 47% lower than Monday’s close—so risks tied to its power assets are still in play.
MARA’s balance sheet saw changes this year after the company sold 15,133 Bitcoin in March, raising around $1.1 billion. MARA said proceeds would go to repurchasing convertible notes, aiming to cut outstanding convertible debt by about 30%.
| MARA disclosed Long Ridge timetable | Company target |
|---|---|
| Deal close | MARA says it’s aiming for second half of 2026, pending approvals like Hart-Scott-Rodino and FERC. |
| Initial AI/Critical IT buildout | MARA expects construction to kick off first half 2027. |
| Targeted service | Company is targeting mid-2028 to bring initial capacity online. |
| Longer-run capacity path | MARA guides to a site ceiling of up to 600 gross MW over time. |
Related articles: NASDAQ:MARA
