MARA Holdings eyes AI opportunities after record Q4 earnings

MARA Holdings, a Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) mining firm, is shifting its focus toward artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing, after reporting strong financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024.

The company aims to become a base layer infrastructure provider for AI and high-performance computing, similar to Cisco's role in the "internet boom."

MARA believes the "second wave" of AI will center around AI inferencing, not training.

Training involves teaching AI models, while inferencing is the AI model applying its knowledge to make conclusions.

MARA wants to provide the infrastructure to support this inferencing, which it anticipates will resemble traditional cloud computing.

According to MARA CEO Fred Thiel, the biggest opportunities emerge in the second wave, with companies that observe and strategically position themselves.

MARA reported record revenue of $214.4 million in Q4, exceeding estimates by 16.5%, and added 18,146 Bitcoin to its holdings.

The company's net income was $528.3 million, a 248% year-on-year increase.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 207% year-on-year to $794.4 million.

MARA increased the number of Bitcoin blocks won by 25% year-on-year, mining 2,492 Bitcoin, and purchased an additional 15,574 BTC through zero-coupon convertible senior notes.

The company held 44,893 Bitcoin at the end of 2024, including loaned and collateralised Bitcoin.

This makes MARA the second-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, behind Strategy.

The company's energised hashrate increased 115% year-on-year to 53.2 EH/s.

This growth was supported by a 300% increase in energy capacity and expansion to seven Bitcoin mining facilities.

MARA also launched 25-megawatt micro data center initiatives in Texas and North Dakota to reduce reliance on grid power.