New York, May 20, 2026, 11:06 EDT
- MARA was up roughly 7% to $13.315 in morning trading Wednesday. Bitcoin held near $77,357.
- Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on the stock to $7 from $8.50 and maintained its underweight rating. The move got a public response from MARA investor relations executive Robert Samuels.
- Shares of Riot Platforms, Cipher Digital and TeraWulf traded higher too, as gains in MARA came alongside a move up in other crypto-linked infrastructure stocks.
MARA Holdings shares rose in U.S. morning trade Wednesday as bitcoin steadied and investors discussed if the one-time miner can shift its power holdings into an AI infrastructure business.
The stock gained around 7%, trading at $13.315 after opening at $12.63. Trading volume topped 18 million shares by late morning. Bitcoin, which miners rely on for revenue, rose about 1.2% to near $77,357.
MARA is working to shift how investors see the company, pitching itself as more of a power-and-data-center operator instead of just a volatile bitcoin play. That’s a harder story to tell now after Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $7 from $8.50 and stuck with an “underweight” rating, which signals the analyst expects shares to trail others in the group. MarketBeat
MARA vice president of investor relations Robert Samuels responded on X, saying “the math appears incorrect regarding the Starwood JV,” about the company’s AI data-center joint venture. Samuels added the analyst wanted to see signed leases before giving more value, which he said is a common issue for miners shifting to AI hosting. Stocktwits
The debate goes beyond the target price. Morgan Stanley, as cited by Stocktwits, is still assigning just a 10% chance that pipeline megawatts turn into real power until formal lease deals get signed. Samuels said MARA won’t invest in AI infrastructure unless tenants are lined up. CEO Fred Thiel expects to see AI tenants come in before year-end, according to Samuels.
MARA is following the path of rivals in the bitcoin mining space, looking to tap into demand from AI and high-performance computing players for limited power resources. Shares of Riot Platforms climbed 5.1%, Cipher Digital advanced 5.9%, and TeraWulf was up 2.2% as of the morning session. The move higher wasn’t limited to MARA.
Chip stocks bounced, sending the Nasdaq up Wednesday morning ahead of Nvidia earnings that traders are watching as a demand test for AI infrastructure. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.43% at 9:51 a.m. ET, according to Reuters.
MARA’s pitch around AI picked up traction last month after it struck a deal to buy Long Ridge Energy & Power from FTAI Infrastructure for $1.5 billion, debt included. The asset package has a 505-megawatt gas plant in Hannibal, Ohio, plus more than 1,600 acres where MARA wants to build a data-center campus.
“It has all the key components for us, for the ideal data center campus,” Thiel told Reuters at the time. Thiel said MARA had seen interest from possible hyperscalers — big cloud-computing firms — and said he expected to sign a tenant when the deal closes. Reuters
MARA’s first-quarter revenue came in at $174.6 million, down roughly 18% from last year. Net loss attributable to common stockholders widened to about $1.26 billion, or $3.31 per share. The numbers help explain why opinion on the stock is still divided.
MARA still has its balance sheet closely linked to bitcoin. As of March 31, the company held 35,303 bitcoin, with 9,995 either loaned out or used as collateral. MARA said it sold roughly 20,880 bitcoin in the quarter, bringing in $1.5 billion.
MARA faces risk if bitcoin drops, lease negotiations take longer, or regulators stall the Long Ridge deal. In that case, investors could focus on the company’s crypto assets and volatile financials. MARA said it needs regulatory greenlights, including under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, for the Long Ridge transaction. The deal might close as late as the second half of 2026.
