MARA Holdings (MARA) is making a shock pivot from its bitcoin
mining roots, asserting late Monday that it’ll purchase a 64% stake in Exaion, a high-performance computing (HPC) subsidiary of French vitality large EDF, dealer H.C. Wainwright mentioned in a analysis report Tuesday.
Whereas MARA has lengthy floated the concept of serving to energy firms steadiness grid hundreds, H.C. Wainwright analyst Kevin Dede mentioned he anticipated that to stay inside a mining-centric technique, not a direct plunge into HPC buildouts.
However with bitcoin halving occasions looming in 2028 and 2032, and synthetic intelligence (AI) demand driving premium returns on compute energy, MARA is betting HPC presents stronger margins than mining alone, the analyst wrote.
MARA is the most recent bitcoin mining firm to pivot to AI and HPC. Core Scientific (CORZ) was first to the celebration final June, when it introduced a 12-year take care of AI cloud supplier CoreWeave (CRWV). The AI firm agreed to purchase CORZ final month in an all-share deal.
The pivot to HPC additionally positions MARA in sovereign cloud AI companies, a distinct segment the place knowledge stays personal and segregated behind company firewalls, however the place scaling requires deep networking and compute experience, the report mentioned.
H.C. Wainwright mentioned the acquisition is a great entry into HPC, giving MARA credibility it may not obtain by itself. The dealer reiterated its purchase ranking on the shares with a $28 worth goal. The shares have been 0.6% greater, buying and selling round $15.76 at publication time.
Whereas MARA’s valuation has been buoyed by bitcoin’s current rally, treasury adoption, and exchange-traded fund-fueled inflows, dangers stay. These vary from BTC worth volatility and community issue to capital dilution and the operational challenges of knowledge middle growth, the report added.
Learn extra: MARA, Holder of Practically $6B BTC, Raises $950M to Purchase Extra Bitcoin
