MARA Stock Skyrockets 16% Even as the Bitcoin Miner Took a $1.7B

The stock market had a surprise for investors today. MARA Holdings (MARA), formerly Marathon Digital Holdings, stock skyrocketed by over 16% in a single day. This happened even though the company told everyone it lost $1.71 billion in the last three months of 2025. Usually, a big loss like that makes a stock go down. However, the company also shared a new plan to move into the world of artificial intelligence. Investors liked that news so much that they started buying the stock immediately.

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Bitcoin Dip Creates a Paper Loss

The giant loss did not come from the company spending too much cash on its offices or workers. Instead, it was mostly a paper loss. Because the price of Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell from about $114,000 in September to $88,000 in December, MARA Holdings had to lower the value of the 53,822 Bitcoin it owns on its books.

MARA Holdings reports this loss in order to follow accounting rules. About $1.5 billion of the total loss came from this change in Bitcoin’s price. Even though the company mined 6% fewer Bitcoin this quarter, they still have a massive pile of digital coins worth roughly $4.7 billion.

New Partnership Creates AI Data Centers

Investors ignored the bad financial numbers because of a new deal with a group called Starwood Digital Ventures. MARA Holdings is changing from just being a Bitcoin miner into a company that builds digital infrastructure. This partnership will turn some of the company’s power sites into big data centers for AI and computing.

The Starwood deal builds enough power capacity to run 750,000 homes in its first phase. CEO Fred Thiel says this plan allows the company to turn power certainty into capacity certainty. This means MARA Holdings will use its access to electricity to help tech companies run their AI tools. This is a very big move that could help the company make more steady money in the future.

Hybrid Model Makes MARA Less Dependent on BTC Prices

Wall Street likes this new hybrid plan because it makes the company less dependent on Bitcoin prices. By building these data centers, MARA Holdings can get paid rent by big companies like they are a landlord. At the same time, they can still mine Bitcoin whenever it is profitable to do so.

This new direction shifts the company toward a market that is growing very fast. Experts think the demand for AI power will grow by over 250% by the year 2030. MARA Holdings owns the land and the power lines already, so they can build these centers faster than other companies. Investors are betting that owning the electricity is just as valuable as owning the Bitcoin.

Is MARA Holdings a Good Stock to Buy?

On TipRanks, MARA stock (MARA) commands a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on one Buy, six Hold, and five Sell ratings. The average 12-month MARA price target of $12 implies 42% upside potential from current levels. Over the past year, MARA shares have fallen 35.6%.

See more MARA analyst ratings

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