Shares of MARA Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) are trading higher Tuesday, even though the bitcoin miner’s third-quarter results, reported Monday, missed Wall Street estimates. Analysts focused on its balance-sheet moves and its push to sign its first AI/high-performance computing (HPC) leases.
Here are some key analyst takeaways:
- Rosenblatt Securities analyst Chris Brendler maintained a Buy rating, while cutting the price target from $15 to $11.
- Needham analyst John Todaro reiterated a Hold rating on the stock.
- Guggenheim Securities analyst Jonathan Lee reaffirmed a Neutral rating.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
Rosenblatt Securities: MARA Holdings reported solid third-quarter results, although revenue of $164.2 million was 12% below the consensus estimate, Brendler said in a note. The latest print “matters for what MARA did with its balance sheet, not for the mining results,” the analyst wrote.
The analyst noted that:
- The company sold 13,597 bitcoins at about $81,000 each after the end of the quarter and repaid $750 million of bitcoin-backed loans. This freed up the collateral and removed the bitcoin-loan interest from the Long Ridge funding.
- The Long Ridge deal secured approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and is set to close within weeks, while the Matagorda project advanced from a suspended state into the active study stage.
- Management now plans to upgrade miners at existing sites to replace expiring hosted hashrate, removing the need to wait for the Matagorda site to power up.
“Although the extended timeline on signing its first HPC contracts reduces our 2027 estimates, we still see significant value in the growing power portfolio,” Brendler added.
Needham: MARA Holdings missed Needham’s mining estimates on revenue and adjusted EBITDA, Todaro said. Still, the analyst called it “the best MARA sounded on a quarter in some time,” citing:
- Increasing likelihood of an upcoming lease at Kearney, Nebraska
- Management re-committed to targeting two leases by year-end 2026, although timing could slip into 2027
“Co-development with Starwood should reduce the execution risk that has impacted some peers,” the analyst wrote.
Guggenheim Securities: MARA Holdings made progress on its balance sheet in the third quarter, Lee said. However, no tenant lease has been signed, and management indicated that its year-end leasing target could slip into 2027.
The focus has now shifted to the timing of the company’s first AI/HPC lease, the analyst stated. The AI leasing thesis, which remains unproven, underpins the Neutral rating, Lee noted.
MARA Price Action: MARA Holdings shares were up 8.81% at $7.23 at the time of publication Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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