NEW YORK, March 6, 2026, 07:59 EST
Shares of MARA Holdings dropped 5.4% to $8.77 in premarket trading Friday, after bitcoin shed roughly 4% to hover near $70,001. That downturn is putting fresh strain on the U.S. bitcoin-mining sector.
This shift is notable: on March 2, MARA’s annual report revealed the company updated its 2026 treasury policy, opening the door to selling any bitcoin sitting on its balance sheet—not just coins from ongoing mining. That tweak hands MARA a fresh way to raise cash as the firm looks to expand into AI and high-performance computing, areas that lean on dense server clusters for intensive tasks. MARA
The company wrapped up 2025 holding 53,822 bitcoin, along with $547.1 million in unrestricted cash. It disclosed that bitcoin sales had started during the back half of 2025 to cover operating costs. In the fourth quarter, rather than issue new shares, it relied on those bitcoin sales, resulting in a combined year-end stash of cash and bitcoin valued around $5.3 billion. MARA
The move carries extra weight as MARA looks to repurpose some of its high-power locations into data centers targeting enterprise, hyperscale, and AI clients. Back on Feb. 26, the company unveiled a partnership with Starwood Digital Ventures, touting potential support for about 1 gigawatt of IT capacity in the near term, with expansion plans that could top 2.5 gigawatts. MARA
Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel put it simply when the deal dropped: “MARA’s power rich sites give customers what they need most: predictable access to energy at scale.” Starwood Capital’s Barry Sternlicht, also chairman and CEO, called data centers “the infrastructure responsible for driving the modern economy.” MARA
Investors are sizing up that pitch while mining conditions look tighter. MARA reported a 6% drop in fourth-quarter revenue to $202.3 million and logged a net loss of $1.7 billion, mostly reflecting a non-cash blow from weaker digital asset values. For 2025, bitcoin production slipped 7% to 8,799 coins, despite a 25% jump in energized hashrate—a key mining power gauge. MARA
Opinions on Wall Street remain divided. On March 5, Macquarie’s Paul Golding maintained his Outperform rating but dropped his price target to $26 from $30. Earlier in the week, Clear Street’s Brian Dobson also trimmed his target, slashing it to $9 from $16 while sticking with a Hold. Cantor Fitzgerald’s Brett Knoblauch, last week, called the Starwood partnership MARA’s “most meaningful step” yet toward AI. Guggenheim’s Jonathan Lee, for his part, said he still wants “more clarity” around tenant contracts and the timeline. GuruFocus
The losses spread across the sector. Riot Platforms slid 5.6%, while Hut 8 dropped 5.4% ahead of the bell. Back in December, Reuters noted that miners like Riot and MARA were under pressure from debt loads, rising funding demands, and the expense of moving toward AI data center operations. Reuters
The plan’s outcome is far from settled. Bitcoin’s price could stay soft, network difficulty might keep climbing post-April halving—those mining rewards were chopped in two—or AI tenants might drag their feet on signing up. In that case, MARA could be forced to tap its treasury more aggressively or turn back to capital markets. As of Dec. 31, filings showed $350 million drawn on its credit line and at least $510.8 million in hosting and service outlays expected from 2026 through 2028. MARA
MARA has made it clear: the company plans to shift power toward its most profitable uses, relying on mining as a stable fallback while expanding into fresh computing ventures. CEO Thiel, in his letter to shareholders, called 2026 “an inflection point,” pointing to both the Starwood partnership and Exaion acquisition as catalysts for its AI infrastructure strategy. MARA
