MARA posts $1.7bn net loss in Q4… shares surge 15% on AI data-center JV announcement

Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) posted a $1.7bn net loss in the fourth quarter, but its shares jumped more than 15% in after-hours trading on news of an AI data-center joint venture with Starwood Capital.

According to The Block on the 26th (local time), MARA’s fourth-quarter revenue came in at $203.0mn, down 6% from $214.4mn a year earlier. The company swung to a net loss of $1.7bn from a net profit of $528.3mn in the same period last year. The move was largely driven by a $1.5bn decline in the fair value of digital assets as the price of Bitcoin fell about 30% during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was reported at negative $1.49bn.

On operating metrics, hashrate rose 25% year on year to 66.4EH/s. However, quarterly production fell to 2,011BTC from 2,144BTC in the third quarter, and the number of blocks secured dropped 15% from a year earlier to 595. The cost of purchased power per Bitcoin climbed sharply to $48,611 from $31,608 a year earlier.

As of year-end, MARA held 53,822BTC, of which 15,315BTC had been lent out or posted as collateral. The value of its Bitcoin holdings was about $4.7bn based on end-of-quarter prices, and liquidity including cash and Bitcoin totaled about $5.3bn. By using roughly 28% of its total holdings for lending or collateral, the company earned $32.10mn in interest income over 2025.

Notably, the fourth quarter was the first since 2022 in which the company did not use its at-the-market (ATM) equity sales program, instead raising some operating funds through Bitcoin sales.

Alongside its earnings release, MARA said it would establish a joint venture with Starwood Capital Group to build AI-focused data centers. The platform will support around 1 gigawatt of IT capacity in the near term, with plans to expand to more than 2.5 gigawatts over the long term. The company said the venture extends its strategy to shift from a Bitcoin-mining-centric model toward an energy and digital infrastructure company.

MARA shares were up more than 16% in after-hours trading at $9.86 as of the time of writing.