MARA’s 2026 first-quarter revenue drops 18%, says bitcoin mining remains an ‘operational foundation’.
Key Takeaways
- MARA sold about $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin during the quarter in order to retire debt and improve liquidity.
- The company said it does not expect to purchase large-scale ASIC mining hardware in the future.
MARA shares dropped more than 5% during after-hours trading on May 11 after the company reported weaker first-quarter revenue, while shedding light into its expansion into artificial intelligence (AI) and digital infrastructure without leaving out bitcoin mining.
Its revenue fell 18% year-on-year, down to $174.6 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $213.9 million a year earlier. Net losses increased to $1.3 billion. According to MARA, this was primarily due to unrealized losses on the 38,689 bitcoins on its balance sheet.
MARA Peers Have Pivoted From Bitcoin Mining
While several of its peers have begun to pivot away from mining bitcoin, MARA emphasized that it still sees bitcoin mining as the “operational foundation” of the company — at least for now.
“Our strategy centers on co-locating new infrastructure with existing Bitcoin mining operations,” said the company in its letter to its shareholders. “This approach creates flexibility: we can generate revenue today through Bitcoin mining while preserving the option to redirect power toward AI and critical IT loads as those opportunities mature on the same sites.”
The letter concluded in a tone similar to previous quarters, describing MARA as a “digital infrastructure company” focused on owning and monetizing power assets across AI, high-performance computing, and the mining of bitcoin.
Operational Updates
MARA also revealed that it plans to decrease investments in large mining hardware expansions.
“Going forward, we do not expect to pursue large-scale ASIC purchases,” the company said. “Our approach will remain selective, targeted, and grounded in clear economic return.”
Management said that around 90% of MARA’s non-hosted mining capacity could be diverted into artificial intelligence and IT infrastructure sites.
MARA expanded its energized hashrate by 33% year-on-year to 72.2 EH/s and mined 2,247 BTC during the quarter, an increase from 2,011 BTC in the previous quarter.
Near the end of the first quarter, MARA made the most significant reduction in its bitcoin holdings after selling approximately $1.1 billion worth of BTC to retire debt and “enhance financial flexibility.” This caused MARA to fall from the second- to fourth-largest public bitcoin treasury company.
