• After the quarter MARA sold 13,597 bitcoin for about $1.1 billion and repaid all $750 million of its bitcoin-backed loans [1].
  • Revenue fell 35% to $164.2 million; net income of $632.1 million came from an $885.3 million unrealized bitcoin gain [1].
  • MARA is targeting two AI/HPC data center leases before year-end, and its Exaion unit signed a four-year $79 million GPU-as-a-service contract [1].

MARA Holdings said it sold 13,597 bitcoin after the third quarter at about $81,039 each, raising roughly $1.1 billion, and used $750 million to fully repay its bitcoin-collateralized term loans [1]. The sale equals about 40% of the 34,012 bitcoin MARA held at Sept. 30, by MLQ's calculation [1]. The loans, taken out during the quarter while bitcoin traded around $64,000, funded the company's acquisition of the Long Ridge natural gas plant; MARA estimates the round trip produced a net benefit of $170 million [1].

The company said the repayment released all pledged bitcoin, leaving less than 5% of its holdings loaned or pledged, and that it intends to keep using bitcoin to build cash for AI infrastructure, to cover puts on convertible notes that become exercisable next year, and for possible share repurchases [1]. Its board authorized a buyback of up to $500 million after the quarter [1].

Mark-to-market profit, lower mining revenue

Revenue fell 35% to $164.2 million from $252.4 million a year earlier [1]. A 37% decline in the average price of bitcoin mined cut revenue by $94.8 million, partly offset by $11.7 million from higher output: MARA mined 2,247 bitcoin, up 5% from a year earlier but down 7% from the second quarter [1]. Energized hashrate rose 18% year over year to 71.2 exahashes per second [1].

Net income was $632.1 million, or $1.28 per diluted share, compared with $123.1 million a year earlier and a loss of about $611 million in the second quarter [1][2]. The third quarter included an $885.3 million unrealized gain on the fair value of bitcoin [1]. Adjusted EBITDA was $857.7 million [1]. MARA has cut total debt by $1.4 billion, or 37%, since the start of the year and ended September with $946.5 million of cash [1].

Leases, Long Ridge and Exaion

MARA said talks with data center tenants are at advanced stages and it is targeting two leases before year-end, adding that "market conditions are fluid and that timing could slip into next year" [1]. Long Ridge, a natural gas plant authorized to sell 485 MW, has received FERC approval and is expected to close by year-end; MARA said the site will have more than 1 GW of potential capacity including its existing mining [1]. The company also secured rights to develop a Matagorda County, Texas site with up to 2 GW of power, with payments contingent on power approvals [1].

Exaion, the French AI cloud company in which MARA bought a majority stake, signed a four-year, $79 million GPU-as-a-service contract on 100% take-or-pay terms with its first U.S. customer [1][3]. MARA cited a pipeline of more than $3 billion in total contract value but said those are "indications of demand and are not yet contracted or committed" [1]. "Bitcoin built the foundation. Power created the opportunity," the company wrote in its shareholder letter [1].

Companies mentioned

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