MARA Holdings Jumps 11% on $500 Million Buyback, Riot Platforms Climbs 2% on Jefferies Upgrade Despite Bitcoin's Drop; Core Scientific Edges Higher

Market Movers desk. Editor: David Moadel.

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Miners turning their power sites into AI data centers are rising against a falling coin, as company news on capital returns and lease deals outweighs the token. MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA | MARA Price Prediction) stock is at $7.34, up 11% in morning trading. The company posted its Q3 2026 results on November 9 and announced them with a $500 million share repurchase authorization.

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) stock is at $17.96, up 2%, following an analyst upgrade from Jefferies. That gain comes as Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) trades at $73,335, down 2%. A hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index report for October has futures markets leaning heavily toward a quarter-point Federal Reserve rate hike at the December 9 meeting, a background weighing on Bitcoin.

MARA Pairs Its Buyback With a Gain-Driven Quarter

The board authorized the repurchase program after quarter end, giving MARA a discretionary tool for open market or privately negotiated purchases. On the November 9 call, CFO Salman Khan spoke. He said MARA had cut its debt by $1.4 billion since the beginning of the year, helped by post-quarter Bitcoin sales that raised more than $1.1 billion and fully repaid its Bitcoin-backed loans.

MARA’s earnings per share of $1.28 topped the -$0.10 consensus, but an $885.3 million unrealized gain on its Bitcoin holdings drove that result. Stripped of the non-cash gain, the quarter looked far weaker. Revenue at MARA reached $164.23 million, missing the $176.13 million consensus and falling 34.9% year over year as a lower average Bitcoin price cut into mining sales.

CEO Fred Thiel stated the company still targets two data center lease deals before year end, while warning that timing could slip into next year. Thiel also stressed discipline. He said, “We are not in the build it and they will come business.” Rosenblatt analyst Chris Brendler cut the firm’s MARA price target to $11 from $15 in a November 10 note while keeping a Buy rating.

Analysts Lift Riot While Core Scientific Trails

Jefferies moved Riot to Buy from Hold in a November 10 note and lifted its price target to $28, matching JPMorgan, from $13, citing the economics of the Corsicana lease Riot disclosed on November 4 with a frontier AI lab. The firm wrote, “The powered land lease lets RIOT monetize the site with less execution and financing risk.” Richard Choe of JPMorgan, like Jefferies, raised the firm’s target to $28 from $22 and kept an Overweight rating. JPMorgan noted the lease covers 910 megawatts of IT capacity, above the 756 megawatts it had expected.

Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ) stock is at $12.90, up 1.4%, a smaller gain than the two aforementioned leaders. Core Scientific posted its Q3 results on November 5, with colocation revenue rising to $215.43 million. Investors are rewarding Bitcoin miners that turn power sites into AI data center contracts, part of the same build-out we mapped across power, cooling, and networking suppliers in a free report on the companies powering the AI boom.

CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) faces a longer wait for data center revenue than its peers. A 20-year lease at CleanSpark’s Sandersville, Georgia campus won’t deliver its first ready data hall until the fourth quarter of 2027.

How MARA’s Business Differs From Riot and Core Scientific

MARA still runs Bitcoin mining as its base business, holding a large Bitcoin treasury and acquiring the Long Ridge natural gas plant to supply its own power. Thiel described that role on the call: “Bitcoin remains our operating foundation and a flexible way to monetize power while we develop higher value infrastructure opportunities.”

Riot has shifted toward triple-net powered land leases, where the tenant owns and operates the computing equipment and pays the operating costs. Core Scientific is going further, planning to finish its exit from Bitcoin mining by year-end and start 2027 as a pure colocation provider.

What Comes Next for MARA’s Data Center Leases

MARA’s next test is whether it signs those two leases before year end and how actively it uses the buyback. Corsicana’s first 400 megawatts are scheduled for September 2027, which makes the site Riot’s next major milestone. Bitcoin’s reaction to rising Fed hike odds may also move all three stocks.

A signed lease would give MARA the kind of contracted revenue that’s lifting Riot and Core Scientific, but a lease delay, a weaker coin or convertible note puts that become exercisable next year could weigh on the stock. Traders may prefer to keep their exposure smaller until the timing of MARA’s lease deals settles.

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David Moadel is financial writer specializing in stocks, ETFs, options, precious metals, and Bitcoin. David has written well over 1,000 articles for leading online publications, helping investors understand markets, income strategies, and risk. His work has appeared in 24/7 Wall St., The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, U.S. News & World Report, TipRanks, ValueWalk, Benzinga, Market Realist, MarketScreener, TalkMarkets, Finmasters, and others. With a master’s degree in education, David has taught at the elementary, high school, and college levels. That teaching background shapes his writing style: clear, educational, and practical. David has also built a loyal social-media audience by providing trustworthy financial content on YouTube, X/Twitter, and StockTwits.