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MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) shares are under pressure Friday. Both Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) miners are getting squeezed from two directions at once: geopolitical tensions pushing energy costs higher and the ongoing pressure to prove their AI pivot is more than a talking point.
MARA stock is down 6%, falling below $9, and RIOT stock has slid 4% toward the $13.50 level. The selloff reflects margin pressure and investor skepticism about the AI pivot narrative.
MARA Holdings: Energy Costs Bite Into an Already Thin Margin
MARA Holdings stocks has been on a rough longer-term ride. The shares are down 31% over the past year and have lost 80% of its value over five years. Even after a strong month that saw MARA climb 23% from its February lows, today’s pullback is a reminder of how quickly sentiment can shift.
The core problem is cost creep. In its most recent quarter, MARA Holdings reported that its purchased energy cost per Bitcoin rose from $32,433 to $39,235. That increase reflects a global hashrate that climbed 66% year-over-year, making each bitcoin harder and more expensive to mine. Now layer in rising oil prices driven by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and the pressure on energy-intensive operations like MARA’s becomes a real headwind.
MARA Holdings does have a genuine diversification story in progress. Its planned acquisition of a roughly 64% stake in Exaion, an EDF subsidiary, signals a push toward lower-cost, internationally diversified energy. Separately, a joint initiative with MPLX is developing West Texas data center campuses starting at 400 megawatts, with room to scale significantly.
The goal is to reach 50% of revenue from international operations by 2028, reducing the company’s dependence on volatile domestic energy markets. We covered the volatility in this name just last week: MARA Holdings Up 8%: The Most Divisive Stock in Crypto Just Made a Big Move.
That sensitivity is stark. Approximately $530 million in earnings impact for MARA Holdings can swing on a single move in Bitcoin’s price, meaning the company’s fortunes remain tightly tethered to an asset it cannot control.
Riot Platforms: Record Revenue, Collapsed Profitability
Riot Platforms tells a more complicated story. The company posted record annual revenue of $647.4 million for fiscal year 2025, a gain of more than 70% year-over-year. Yet, that top-line strength masked a dramatic collapse in profitability, with adjusted EBITDA falling from $463.19 million the prior year to just $12.96 million. The market reacted sharply when the report was filed in early March, sending RIOT shares down nearly 7%.
The AI pivot at Riot Platforms is further along than many realize. The company’s 10-year data center lease with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD | AMD Price Prediction) became operational in January 2026, generating actual revenue. Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les framed the strategy directly:
“By unlocking our large, nearly two-gigawatt power portfolio for high-demand data center infrastructure, we are driving significant shareholder value.”
That power portfolio is the real asset here. In a world where hyperscalers are waiting 36 to 48 months to secure power for new data centers, Riot Platforms already has nearly 2 gigawatts in its portfolio. The question is execution speed and whether the company can convert that infrastructure advantage into consistent cash flow before rising mining costs and Bitcoin volatility erode the balance sheet further.
Riot Platforms has 3,977 bitcoin held as collateral, which limits financial flexibility at exactly the wrong time. Moreover, with the global network hashrate increasing 52% year-over-year as of the most recent quarter, the cost to mine each coin keeps climbing regardless of what Bitcoin’s price does.
The Shared Pressure Both Miners Cannot Escape
The Iran conflict has pushed WTI crude oil to $97 per barrel. Energy-intensive operations like Bitcoin mining feel that kind of move immediately. Neither company has fully insulated itself from spot energy markets, and that vulnerability is being priced in today.
Prediction markets on Polymarket capture the exact bind both miners are in. The probability of Bitcoin reaching a high price threshold by year-end sits at roughly 40.5%, while the probability of a significant dip at some point sits at 70.5%.
Thus, the upside is real but uncertain. The downside scenarios are more likely than most want to admit. Both MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms are racing to build AI and data center revenue streams that could survive a Bitcoin bear market. Today’s price action suggests investors are not yet convinced either company is moving fast enough.
