Investors brace for MARA’s Q1 losses while watching its push into AI-driven growth.

MARA Holdings is preparing to release its first-quarter earnings after the May 11 market close, with analysts bracing for weak results as bitcoin’s downturn pressures both revenue and profitability. Consensus estimates call for revenue of about $184.21 million and a loss per share of $2.34.

The expected decline is largely tied to bitcoin’s roughly 25% drop خلال the quarter, from around $87,000 to $67,000, which is likely to have resulted in sizable mark-to-market losses on the company’s BTC holdings.

Even so, investor focus is increasingly shifting away from short-term price swings in bitcoin and toward MARA’s evolving strategy in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The company is positioning itself within a broader industry pivot, where bitcoin miners are repurposing their energy infrastructure and data center capabilities to generate more predictable, long-term revenue from AI-related operations.

A central component of this strategy is MARA’s planned $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy from FTAI Infrastructure. The deal is expected to provide reliable power generation capacity and support expansion into AI-driven data center services, helping reduce exposure to the volatility of bitcoin mining, where revenues are closely tied to price fluctuations, network difficulty, and transaction fees.

In the previous quarter, MARA reported a 6% year-over-year revenue decline, with sales falling from $214 million to $206 million. At the same time, the company unveiled a partnership with Starwood to develop AI-focused data centers, targeting roughly one gigawatt of computing capacity in the near term.

During Q1, MARA sold 15,133 BTC—worth approximately $1.1 billion—and used the proceeds to repurchase $1.0 billion in convertible notes, improve liquidity, and continue funding its AI expansion plans.

The shift toward AI is gaining traction across the broader mining sector. IREN has accelerated its transition with a $3.4 billion AI cloud agreement with NVIDIA, while also recording a $140.4 million non-cash impairment tied to the sale of ASIC mining hardware as it reallocates resources toward AI infrastructure.

Meanwhile, HIVE Digital Technologies has expanded its own AI and digital infrastructure investments, including a $3.1 million commitment to high-speed fiber deployment supporting a planned 50MW AI facility.

MARA shares were modestly higher in pre-market trading, rising about 1% to $13, as investors look ahead to the company’s long-term growth trajectory beyond bitcoin.