New York, July 9, 2026, 13:06 (EDT)
- MARA Holdings rose 11.8% to $13.44 in early afternoon, hitting a session high of $14.38. More than 51 million shares traded.
- MARA’s Texas project-company buyout closed July 2, according to a filing, and the deal could mean as much as $600 million in milestone payouts if all goals are hit.
- The share gain put about $540 million on the company’s market cap, almost 90% of the maximum possible milestone payout disclosed, even though the data-center lease or build cost was not yet released.
MARA Holdings Inc. NASDAQ:MARA shares popped Thursday. Investors bid up the bitcoin miner-turned-power developer on news it’s picked out a Texas site that might bring 2 gigawatts to the grid. The company hasn’t named a tenant or said what the deal will mean for finances yet.
Market is now putting almost as much value on power control as on contracted revenue. High-performance computing, or HPC, needs access to limited power more than it needs customers. TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQ:WULF gave a fresh example this week, signing a 20-year Anthropic data center lease seen bringing in about $19 billion.
By early afternoon, MARA shares quickly put a value on that optionality:
| Measure | Confirmed figure | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|
| MARA share price | $13.44, up 11.8% | Increases equity value by about $540 mln on the day |
| Texas project capacity | 2,000 MW | Roughly $270,000 added in market value for each potential MW |
| Maximum milestone purchase price | $600 mln | $300,000 per potential MW, upfront, not counting campus build |
| Intraday high | $14.38 | Implied equity value at the high saw gain near $900 mln |
| Potential MARA portfolio capacity | About 4.8 GW | Portfolio would more than double, if Long Ridge deal closes |
The 8-K had more detail. MARA said its Volt Texas unit picked up almost all of the membership interests in MAT 1177 LLC. That company holds Texas land rights and a letter agreement with an electric utility for up to 2,000 megawatts of power. MARA isn’t paying all cash up front. The deal uses milestones tied to approvals, buying land, securing power, and landing a third-party data-center lease.
MARA said its Matagorda County site sits about 90 miles from Houston, covers more than 1,200 acres, and could see an initial 1 GW of power as soon as October 2027, ramping up to 2 GW by April 2028. CEO Fred Thiel said in a statement that sites with “reliable, scalable power” will grow in value. HIF USA CEO Renato Pereira described the venture as an “economic anchor” for the area. MARA
The peer tape turned in a mixed performance, but one theme stayed in focus: investors are splitting out miners with an AI angle from those that mainly produce bitcoin.
| Company | Fresh market signal | Latest move |
|---|---|---|
| MARA Holdings Inc. NASDAQ:MARA | 2-GW Texas plant, still no signed tenant | +11.8% |
| TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQ:WULF | Anthropic rental locks in AI payment stream | +5.0% |
| Cipher Digital Inc. NASDAQ:CIFR | Names moves with other power/data firms | +7.0% |
| IREN Ltd. NASDAQ:IREN | Listed with peers, lagged Wednesday | -0.9% |
MARA still moves when bitcoin moves. Bitcoin gained 1.1% to $62,681, a positive for MARA but not enough by itself to explain the stock’s jump. Cipher and TeraWulf were up too, but IREN dropped. Looks like buyers were picking spots Thursday, not just buying every crypto miner.
MARA’s Texas deal comes on top of its pending $1.5 billion buyout of Ohio-based Long Ridge Energy & Power, which includes debt. In April, Thiel told Reuters that Long Ridge has “all the key components” for an “ideal data center campus.” That deal brings a 505-megawatt plant, over 1,600 acres and about $144 million in annualized adjusted earnings. Reuters
Funding is still up in the air. MARA had $513.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, while long-term liabilities stood at $2.28 billion, according to its balance sheet. The company cut leverage earlier this year by selling bitcoin and repurchasing notes. But the Texas filing left out a full capex budget for building out powered land into a campus.
Wall Street had a firmer tone. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 gained Thursday as chip stocks climbed. But Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at iFOREX, said stretched AI profit bets and Middle East risks make for a “toxic combination.” That’s key for MARA, which is now being traded more as an AI-infrastructure play than just a bitcoin miner. Reuters
The downside risk is clear. The 8-K notes the site’s value hinges on approvals, power authorization, and securing a third-party lease. It also cautions that commercializing the site for bitcoin mining or HPC might not meet current hopes. Delays with power, a tough lease negotiation, a slide in bitcoin, or MARA tapping equity for construction could all erase Thursday’s jump quicker than the project moves forward.
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