MARA Authorizes Share Buyback of Up to $500 Million After Repaying Bitcoin Loans
Key Facts
MARA Holdings’ board authorized a program on November 9 to repurchase up to $500 million of its common stock, as the company fully repaid loans secured by bitcoin. The company said in its filing that the authorization allows it to buy shares but does not require it to make any purchases or buy a specified amount. EL7 data showed the stock closed at $6.64 on November 9. In trading on November 10, Investing.com data showed it up 13.25%, at a quoted price of $6.64. The page also reported the stock was down 57% over a year and said Rosenblatt cut its price target to $11 from $15 while maintaining a buy rating.
MARA repaid the loans after the end of the third quarter, using $750 million of proceeds from the sale of about 13,597 bitcoin. The sale price was about $81,039 per coin and generated proceeds of about $1.1 billion, according to the third-quarter shareholder letter. The company said the bitcoin-backed loans were fully repaid. The repayment released 17,477 bitcoin that had been pledged as collateral for the loans. After the transaction, less than 5% of the company’s bitcoin holdings remained lent or pledged.
The borrowings that the company repaid were arranged during the third quarter and totaled $750 million. The amount included $600 million in new financing and $150 million to refinance an existing facility, according to the shareholder letter. MARA said it used the borrowings to fund its acquisition of Long Ridge. The company thus linked bitcoin-backed financing to the acquisition of energy assets, then used bitcoin-sale proceeds to discharge the related obligations. This comes as part of a broader debt reduction that the company said had reached $1.4 billion since the start of 2026, or 37% of total debt.
The buyback announcement comes as MARA’s quarterly revenue fell despite higher bitcoin production. Revenue was $164.2 million in the third quarter of 2026, down 35% from $252.4 million in the same period of 2025. The company attributed $94.8 million of the negative impact to a 37% decline in the average price of bitcoin mined. Higher production offset part of the drop, adding $11.7 million to revenue. Production totaled 2,247 bitcoin for the quarter, compared with 2,144 a year earlier, an increase of 5%, while the active hash rate rose 18% to 71.2 exahashes per second from 60.4 exahashes.
By contrast, the company recorded net income of $632.1 million in the third quarter, compared with $123.1 million a year earlier. It said an unrealized gain of $885.3 million from the revaluation of bitcoin was the main driver of the increase in income. This means the quarterly income result was driven largely by the valuation of bitcoin holdings, while annual revenue fell as the average price of mined coins declined. MARA presented debt reduction and the share buyback as part of its financial strategy disclosures, but the program does not guarantee that the authorized amount will translate into actual purchases. Purchases may be made on the open market or through privately negotiated transactions, and the company may amend, suspend or terminate the program at any time.
The Long Ridge deal remains among the company’s upcoming matters; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved it on November 4, finding it consistent with the public interest. MARA said it expects to complete the deal in the coming weeks, subject to satisfying the remaining customary conditions. The company said the plant is currently authorized to sell 485 megawatts, with its full nameplate capacity of 505 megawatts expected in the first half of 2027. It also aims to sign two data-center leases before the end of 2026, but said market conditions are changing and timing could slip into the following year. These dates remain company-stated targets, not completed deals.