MARA Barely Moves Since Missing Q1 Earnings & Revenue Estimates

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. MARA reported unimpressive first-quarter 2026 results, with both earnings and revenues missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.MARA’s first-quarter 2026 loss per share was 61 cents, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 46 cents and the year-ago loss of 40 cents per share. Revenues of $174.6 million missed the consensus mark of $192.7 million and declined 18.4% year over year.The stock has barely moved since the release of results on May 11, reflecting poor quarterly earnings performance and low confidence among shareholders.Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. QuoteThe weaker results reflected lower bitcoin prices, higher operating expenses and unfavorable mark-to-market adjustments on digital assets. During the quarter, MARA increased its energized hashrate (EH) 33% year over year to 72.2 EH/s and mined 2,247 bitcoins (BTC).MARA Expands Hashrate Amid Mining PressureMARA continued scaling its mining platform despite a tougher pricing environment. Energized hashrate rose to 72.2 EH/s from 54.3 EH/s in the year-ago quarter, while average daily bitcoin production reached 25 BTC.The company won 653 blocks in the quarter, down 2% year over year. Higher global network difficulty offset gains from fleet expansion and reduced bitcoin mined per unit of energy consumed. MARA deployed roughly 5,000 new miners and acquired 2.4 EH of next-generation used Application-Specific Integrated Circuit miners to improve fleet efficiency at lower capital costs.Marathon Revenues Fall on Bitcoin WeaknessMarathon’s revenues decreased to $174.6 million from $213.9 million in the prior-year quarter. Management attributed most of the decline to an 18% drop in average bitcoin prices, which reduced revenues by approximately $33.1 million.Bitcoin production declined modestly from the year-ago period, contributing additional pressure on sales. Other revenues fell $3.7 million, primarily due to lower contributions from digital asset hosting services and other digital assets. Bitcoin holdings were 35,303 BTC at quarter-end, down from 47,531 BTC a year earlier.MARA Costs Rise Despite Efficiency GainsMARA’s purchased energy costs increased to $44.7 million from $43.5 million in the prior-year quarter, reflecting expanded owned mining operations and higher power usage. Purchased energy cost per bitcoin increased to $40,047 from $35,728 a year ago due to growth in network difficulty outpacing hashrate expansion.Operating and maintenance expenses climbed to $30.6 million from $19.8 million due to higher miner repair costs, maintenance spending and labor expenses tied to a larger operational footprint. Third-party hosting and other energy costs rose to $70 million.Despite these pressures, cost per petahash per day improved 3% year over year to $27.6. Management noted that the metric has improved 42% over the last 11 quarters, supported by operational efficiencies and hardware optimization.Marathon Pursues AI Infrastructure ExpansionMarathon accelerated its transition toward digital infrastructure and AI-focused operations during the quarter. The company advanced its strategic partnership with Starwood to develop AI and critical IT infrastructure across powered sites.Per management, around 90% of MARA’s non-hosted capacity is being evaluated for AI and critical IT conversion opportunities. The partnership structure is designed to monetize the company’s power and land portfolio while limiting incremental capital requirements.The company also announced a definitive agreement to acquire Long Ridge Energy and Power after quarter-end. The asset includes a 505 MW combined-cycle gas turbine facility and 1,600 acres of land adjacent to MARA’s Hannibal operations. The acquisition is expected to expand MARA’s owned and operational capacity by roughly 65% and create a scalable AI and high-performance computing campus.MARA Strengthens Balance Sheet, Cuts DebtMARA reported a net loss of $1.3 billion compared with a loss of $533.4 million in the prior-year quarter. The wider loss primarily reflected a $1 billion unfavorable fair-value adjustment tied to declining bitcoin prices and restructuring charges of $45.9 million.Adjusted EBITDA was negative $1 billion compared with negative $483.6 million a year ago. General and administrative expenses, excluding stock-based compensation, increased to $57.7 million from $36.9 million due to integration costs, higher personnel expenses and expansion initiatives.The company reduced its workforce by 15%, a move expected to generate annualized savings of $12 million. During the quarter, MARA sold approximately $1.5 billion of bitcoin and used the proceeds to repurchase more than $1 billion of convertible debt at a discount and reduce outstanding borrowings. Combined cash and bitcoin holdings totaled approximately $2.9 billion at quarter-end.Currently, MARA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Recent Earnings SnapshotsAccenture plc ACN reported impressive second-quarter fiscal 2026 results.ACN’s earnings were $2.93 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%. The metric increased 3.9% from the year-ago quarter. Total revenues of $18 billion beat the consensus estimate by 1.2% and rose 8.3% on a year-over-year basis.Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ADP reported impressive third-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with earnings and revenues outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.ADP’s earnings per share of $3.37 beat the consensus estimate by 2.7% and increased 10.1% from the year-ago quarter. Total revenues of $5.94 billion surpassed the consensus estimate by 1.4% and grew 7% year over year.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.See Stocks Now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks