MARA Holdings' Q1 Net Loss Widens to $1.3 Billion as Bitcoin Slide Hurts Results

MARA Holdings, a US Bitcoin miner, reported weak first-quarter results, sending its shares lower in after-hours trading.

Cointelegraph reported on May 12 that first-quarter revenue fell 18% from a year earlier to $174.6 million, missing market expectations of $192.7 million.

Net loss widened sharply to $1.3 billion from $533.4 million a year earlier. Earnings per share came in at negative $3.31, worse than the market forecast of negative $2.20.

MARA shares fell 3.44% to $12.93 in after-hours trading following the earnings release. The stock had closed up 3.48% in the regular session before surrendering those gains.

The weak performance was largely driven by Bitcoin's decline during the quarter. MARA said valuation losses on its holdings of 38,689 BTC were the main reason. Bitcoin fell about 23% during the period.

A harsher mining environment also weighed on the business. Bitcoin is trading more than 30% below its all-time high, while mining difficulty has risen about 30% over the past year, reducing mining profitability.

The company plans to keep Bitcoin mining as its core business while expanding into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data centers. It is working with Starwood Capital on a strategy to convert existing mining facilities into AI data centers, and in April acquired Long Ridge Energy & Power in a deal valued at about $1.5 billion.

MARA said it is building a flexible structure that uses its existing mining infrastructure to generate revenue from Bitcoin mining now, while allowing power at the same facilities to be shifted later to meet AI and IT demand.

The company also said it has no plans to buy additional mining equipment and will instead focus on expanding its AI and data center business using its current infrastructure.