This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) shares jumped 10.77% to $7.36 as of 11:00 a.m. ET in regular trading on November 10, after the bitcoin miner announced a $500 million share repurchase authorization. It also disclosed that it sold 13,597 bitcoin to repay $750 million of bitcoin-backed debt.
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with MARA.
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Third-quarter revenue fell about 35% to $164.2 million on lower average bitcoin prices. Net income reached $632.1 million, but that includes an $885.3 million non-cash gain on digital assets. MARA produced 2,247 BTC in the quarter and held 34,012 BTC at quarter-end. Year to date, the company has cut debt by $1.4 billion, or 37%. Its Exaion unit signed a four-year, $79 million GPU-as-a-service contract on take-or-pay terms. Management also cited a pipeline above $3 billion that is not yet contracted. Seeking Alpha reported that earnings were lifted mainly by fair-value gains on digital assets.
The buyback equals roughly 17% of MARA's market value of about $2.9 billion, a large commitment for a miner. Profits still depend heavily on bitcoin marks, so the AI pivot has to deliver contracted revenue to change the story. Signing the two leases management targets before year-end, which it said could slip into 2027, is the next test.
