MARA shares fall 9.60% as company expands bitcoin sales and borrowing against holdings
Key Facts
MARA shares closed at $7.53 on 16 October 2026, down 9.60% on the day, according to trading data published on the company's investor relations website. The stock lost $0.80 per share in that session, according to the closing update dated the same day. The decline comes as the company combines sales of some of its bitcoin reserves with access to additional borrowing secured by the cryptocurrency, alongside an announced expansion into energy and digital infrastructure. MARA had expanded its treasury management policy to allow sales of bitcoin held on its balance sheet, according to its financial filing for the period ended in June. The company said in the filing: "We expanded this strategy to allow sales of bitcoin held on our balance sheet."
MARA's sales in the first half of 2026 totaled about 23,093 bitcoin, according to the company's quarterly financial filing. The average selling price was $70,631 per bitcoin during that period, which ran through the end of June. By comparison, the company sold about 4,076 bitcoin during all of 2025, according to its annual filing for that year. Proceeds from those earlier sales totaled $413.1 million, according to figures MARA reported in the annual filing. The amount of bitcoin sold in the first half of this year thus exceeded the total sold throughout the previous year, as its policy broadened to include disposals of balance-sheet reserves.
On operating results, MARA reported in its shareholder letter that revenue for the second quarter of 2026 fell 27% year on year. Revenue totaled $174.9 million in the quarter, according to the letter detailing the company's performance during the period. Revenue in the corresponding period of 2025 was $238.5 million, the comparison figure the company used in reporting the decline. Mining production totaled 2,422 bitcoin in the second quarter of this year, according to the same letter. The production figure relates to mining activity during that quarter, while the treasury sales figures cover the longer period spanning the first half of the year.
On its balance sheet and liabilities, MARA held about 35,577 bitcoin at the end of June 2026, according to its quarterly financial filing. Cash outflows from financing activities during the first half included $912.8 million paid toward partial repayment of notes, according to the filing. Under agreements dated 4 August 2026, bitcoin-backed credit facilities with Coinbase and Two Prime made an additional $600.0 million in borrowing available. The company pledged 18,750 bitcoin as initial collateral for these facilities, according to details in the financial filing. The announced treasury and financing arrangements thus combined holding the cryptocurrency, selling a portion of it and pledging units as collateral to obtain additional borrowing capacity.
Alongside its bitcoin operations, MARA announced an agreement to acquire Long Ridge on 30 April 2026, with a deal value of $1.5 billion. The company positioned the agreement as part of its expansion into energy and digital infrastructure, according to the acquisition announcement. MARA describes its business as converting surplus energy into digital capital, according to the description in its second-quarter results announcement. It also said it is developing technologies to reduce the energy requirements of high-performance computing applications, including artificial intelligence and edge computing. This direction adds infrastructure and computing to the company's activities, which include bitcoin mining and management of its holdings, according to its operating and financial announcements.
The next step in the Long Ridge plan concerns the start of construction on the initial phase dedicated to artificial intelligence and bio-IT. MARA identified the first half of 2027 as the expected start date for this work, according to the plan outlined in the acquisition agreement announcement. The company said it "expects to begin construction on the initial AI and bio-IT phase in the first half of 2027." This timetable forms part of the company's projections for the project, with the start of construction tied to its future plan to expand digital infrastructure. Regarding upcoming investor communications, MARA's investor relations calendar indicates that no upcoming events are currently scheduled.