MARA Holdings, the Bitcoin miner formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, reported third-quarter net income of $632.1 million, or $1.28 per diluted share, compared with $123.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The results, released on November 9, were driven primarily by an $885.3 million unrealized fair-value gain on digital assets, accounting rules that allow companies to count the rising value of crypto they hold as income even if they never sell it.
Revenue decline
Revenue fell 35% year-over-year to $164.2 million, down from $252.4 million in the prior-year quarter. MARA’s average Bitcoin price realization dropped 37%, even as the company produced more coins and ran its machines more efficiently.
MARA mined 2,247 Bitcoin during the quarter. Its hashrate reached 71.2 EH/s, up 18% from a year earlier. As of September 30, the company held 34,012 Bitcoin, including receivables, and cash and equivalents stood at $946.5 million.
Post-quarter Bitcoin sale and debt reduction
After the quarter closed, MARA sold 13,597 Bitcoin for approximately $1.1 billion, or about $81,039 per coin. Of those proceeds, $750 million went to repaying term loans backed by Bitcoin. Repaying those loans freed between 17,477 and 18,750 BTC from collateral. After the repayment, MARA’s pledged Bitcoin dropped to less than 5% of its total holdings.
The company has reduced its debt by $1.4 billion, or 37%, since the start of the year. Alongside the sale, MARA announced a share repurchase program worth up to $500 million.
Expansion beyond mining
MARA is continuing its push into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure. The company approved a strategic acquisition of the Long Ridge natural gas plant and secured a $79 million GPU-as-a-service contract through Exaion.
What it means for shareholders
The quarter highlights a split personality among public Bitcoin miners: an operating business that earns revenue from mining and a Bitcoin treasury whose value swings with the market. This time, the treasury half did the heavy lifting, with the $885.3 million fair-value gain dwarfing $164.2 million in revenue, meaning headline profit is tightly linked to where Bitcoin trades at quarter-end.
The 37% drop in realized Bitcoin price is a number to watch. Production rose and efficiency improved, yet revenue still fell by more than a third. Contracts like the $79 million Exaion deal offer income that does not move in lockstep with Bitcoin, which could smooth out earnings over time.
