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The call presents a mixed but strategically forward-looking picture: strong operational progress and major strategic moves (Starwood JV execution, Exaion acquisition, Long Ridge deal, record energized hashrate, and debt/dilution reduction) position MARA to scale AI/critical IT infrastructure and monetize powered land. However, material near-term financial headwinds persist — Q1 revenue declines, a large net loss and negative adjusted EBITDA driven by Bitcoin price markdowns, lower BTC holdings, higher per-BTC costs and elevated G&A/restructuring charges. The company has actionable financing plans and capital-efficient JV structures to convert assets to contracted cash flows, but short-term results remain volatile and sensitive to BTC prices.
MARA’s guidance emphasized accelerating AI/data‑center commercialization and near‑term financings: management expects to sign multiple tenant leases by year‑end and will disclose contracted megawatts as they convert, with the Starwood JV able to monetize sites (an illustrative 200 MW project could generate ~$50M–$100M of net annualized stabilized cash flow at a 9%–15% yield on cost and construction financing that can support ~80% LTV); Long Ridge adds ~1,600 contiguous acres and an existing 200 MW of capacity with a 505 MW nameplate combined‑cycle plant (76% contracted) that produced $144M annualized adjusted EBITDA in H2 2025, gives a path from ~1.3 GW energized capacity to ~2.2 GW at close (≈65% increase) and up to ~2.4 GW with expansion, with a pathway to >1 GW on site and an initial 200 MW AI build‑out targeted to start construction H1 2027 with initial capacity mid‑2028, paired with very low incremental power cost (~$15/MWh) and a plan to retain the plant’s ~25 FTEs; Long Ridge pro‑forma debt is expected to be about $900M (down from $1.1B) with ~185M in tack‑on notes and a $785M Barclays bridge commitment if needed. Financial/operational context and balance‑sheet guidance included targeting a lower quarterly G&A run‑rate post‑restructuring, realizing ~$12M annualized savings from a 15% workforce reduction, having retired ~30% of convertible notes (≈33% of outstanding debt) to reduce dilution by ~46M shares (~9% FD), selling ~$1.5B of Bitcoin in Q1 to repurchase >$1B face value of 2030/2031 notes and cut a credit line by $200M while refinancing $150M of the line at 7% (from 10.5%); company reiterated that every $10,000 move in BTC price changes digital‑asset fair value by ~$350M, and operational metrics from Q1 included revenue $174.6M, record energized hashrate 72.2 EH/s (+33% YoY), mined 2,247 BTC (25 BTC/day), 35,303 BTC held (28% loaned/pledged), net loss $1.3B (‑$3.31/sh), and adjusted EBITDA of ‑$1.0B.
Moved Starwood joint venture from announcement to execution (permitting, site prep, active tenant discussions across ~90% of owned/operated sites). Closed majority acquisition of Exaion and announced definitive agreement to acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power, positioning MARA to scale AI and critical IT infrastructure.
Long Ridge adds ~1,600 contiguous acres, existing 200 MW at Hannibal with a path to >1 GW generation and an approx. 505 MW combined-cycle plant. Plant generated $144 million of annualized adjusted EBITDA in H2 2025 with 76% contracted. Transaction increases owned/operated energized capacity ~65% (from ~1.3 GW to ~2.2 GW at close, expansion to ~2.4 GW) and provides a path to ~600 MW of AI/critical IT load.
Delivered record energized hashrate of 72.2 EH/s in Q1 2026, up 33% from 54.3 EH/s in Q1 2025. Share of available mining rewards increased to 5.5% from 4.8% in Q4 2025.
Retired roughly 30% of outstanding convertible debt (Salman noted retiring ~33% of outstanding debt including ~30% convertible note reduction) at a discount, reducing potential dilution by approximately 46 million shares (~9% on a fully diluted basis) and increasing financial flexibility.
Sold approximately $1.5 billion of Bitcoin in the quarter to repurchase >$1.0 billion face value of 2030/2031 notes and reduce the line of credit by $200 million. Refinance activity included $150 million of line refinanced at 7% vs prior 10.5%.
Owned-site cost per kilowatt-hour reported at $0.04 (competitive at scale). Daily cost per petahash per day improved 3% YoY to $27.6 from $28.5 and is improved 42% over the past 11 quarters.
JV structure allows MARA to contribute powered sites and receive pre-agreed site-specific equity credit, with illustrative economics suggesting a 200 MW project could generate ~$50M–$100M net annualized stabilized cash flow (9%–15% yield on cost) with little incremental equity required beyond site value.
Plan to retain about 25 full-time employees from Long Ridge to supplement MARA energy asset operating expertise; Long Ridge operations to continue serving PJM grid while enabling behind-the-meter compute build-outs.
Greetings, and welcome to the MARA First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Robert Samuels, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.
Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to MARA's First Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Earnings Call. Thanks for joining us today. With me on today's call are our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fred Thiel; and our Chief Financial Officer, Salman Khan. Today's call includes forward-looking statements, including those about our growth plans, liquidity and financial performance. These involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. We disclaim any obligation to update these statements, except as required by law. For more details, see the Risk Factors section of our latest 10-K and other SEC filings.
We'll also reference non-GAAP financial measures like adjusted EBITDA, which we believe are important indicators of MARA's operating performance because they exclude certain items that we do not believe directly reflect our core operations. Please see our earnings release for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures. We hope you've had the chance to read our shareholder letter and look forward to your feedback. We'll begin with some prepared remarks from Fred and Salman. After their comments, we will open the call to Q&A. I'm going to turn the call over to Fred to kick things off. Fred?
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Q1 2026 was a redef...