Author: Nancy, PANews
The story of Bitcoin mining companies transitioning to AI is no longer new, and it is even gradually becoming the industry standard. But as more mining companies flood into this track, Wall Street has begun to lower the valuation premium for AI transition narratives.
Blocksbridge Consulting recently pointed out in an analysis that as more mining companies increase their AI/HPC infrastructure investments, the market's reaction to related transition stories is clearly cooling down. Even large-scale AI hosting contracts are increasingly difficult to replicate the market excitement they brought in the early days. Data shows that early AI business announcements often triggered sharp stock price fluctuations, with the average absolute price change after the announcement reaching 24.1%; while the average absolute price change after similar recent transactions has dropped to about 10.2%.
At the same time, the commercial value of AI/HPC hosting business itself is still increasing. Data shows that the annualized revenue level of related leases has increased from about $1.67 million per megawatt in the early days to about $1.9 million.
This change means that the market is no longer simply paying for the AI transition slogan, but has begun to focus on tenant quality, project delivery capability, capital investment, and future cash flow realization. For Bitcoin mining companies, the key to AI transition has shifted from "telling stories" to "proving the business model."
With the second-quarter earnings reports coming out one after another, the AI transition of Bitcoin mining companies has entered a new round of testing. PANews reviewed the latest financial reports of five leading Bitcoin mining companies. From the perspective of transition progress and results, some mining companies are still in the construction stage, with AI business not yet contributing revenue; some companies have already gained new revenue through AI/HPC hosting business, and even begun to reshape their business structure. Overall, most mining companies still face pressure from declining revenue, expanding losses, and high capital investment, and the transition story is still far from cash flow realization.
From the secondary market performance, investors' attitude towards mining companies' AI transition is also becoming more rational. In the past month, the stock prices of most Bitcoin mining companies have experienced varying degrees of pullback, of course also affected by the overall pullback in the global AI sector. But even if some mining companies announce large AI/HPC leases or make business progress, the market reaction remains relatively flat.
MARA: Losses expand, AI transition has not yet contributed revenue
Data shows that MARA's stock price fell about 11.6% in the past month, and fell about 5.25% on the day the second-quarter earnings were released.
From the latest quarterly report, MARA's traditional mining business is still suppressed by the industry cycle, and profit margins continue to narrow; while the AI/HPC infrastructure it is betting on is still mostly in the stage of building the platform, and the commercialization story has not yet been realized.
In the second quarter of this year, MARA achieved revenue of approximately $175 million, a year-on-year decrease of 27%, significantly down from $238.5 million in the same period last year. In terms of profit, MARA's net loss in the second quarter exceeded $610 million, compared with a profit of approximately $810 million in the same period last year; adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $361 million, a significant decline from the profit level of $1.245 billion in the same period last year, mainly affected by a digital asset impairment of approximately $343 million due to the decline in Bitcoin prices.
In this earnings report, MARA clearly proposed a "three major infrastructure" strategy, including Bitcoin mining, power resources, and AI computing infrastructure.
In terms of mining business, as of the end of the second quarter, MARA held 35,577 BTC, a decrease of 29% from 49,951 BTC in the same period last year. In this quarter, it mined 2,422 bitcoins and sold 2,213, with an average selling price of approximately $73,000. Currently, its combined cash and BTC assets total approximately $2.5 billion.
In terms of AI/HPC transition, as of the end of June 2026, MARA has 1.4GW of operating capacity, with current total capacity reaching 1.9GW and potential energy capacity of approximately 4.8GW. Among them, the project in Matagorda County, Texas, USA is an important node for future transition. The project plans to reach up to 2GW of power capacity and build it into an AI/HPC computing campus, with construction expected to start in 2027; at the same time, MARA is also cooperating with Starwood to build data centers, and has acquired Long Ridge energy assets and French HPC operator Exaion (with expected annual revenue of less than eight figures, i.e., several million to ten to twenty million dollars).
It is worth noting that to support the expansion of energy infrastructure, MARA has newly established a $100 million credit line, using 18,750 BTC as initial collateral. This means the company is improving the liquidity and capital utilization efficiency of its Bitcoin assets, providing financial support for subsequent infrastructure investment.
However, at present, AI/HPC's contribution to MARA's revenue is still nearly zero. In the earnings call, MARA management also acknowledged this situation, stating that in the first half of this year, MARA's core task was to expand scale and promote platform transformation, and in the second half, it will enter the execution stage, including signing customer agreements, promoting new assets into operation, and verifying the platform's profit potential.
Core Scientific: AI revenue accounts for over 80%, begins to increase BTC holdings
Data shows that Core Scientific's stock price fell about 3.04% in the past month, and rose about 0.05% on the day the second-quarter earnings were released.
From the latest quarterly report, Core Scientific's traditional mining business share has shrunk significantly, and the AI/HPC infrastructure it is betting on has achieved revenue dominance, with the commercialization story basically realized.
In the second quarter of this year, Core Scientific achieved revenue of approximately $164.2 million, a year-on-year increase of about 109%. In terms of profit, the company still recorded a net loss of approximately $1.155 billion, but adjusted EBITDA reached approximately $41.1 million, gross profit of approximately $70 million, and gross margin of about 43%.
From the business structure, Core Scientific is rapidly getting rid of its dependence on mining revenue. In the second quarter, mining revenue fell to approximately $21.5 million, accounting for about 17% of total revenue. At the same time, Core Scientific's Bitcoin holdings increased from 547 BTC at the end of the first quarter to 848 BTC, an increase of 301 BTC in a single quarter. Previously, it had sold BTC on a large scale to support the AI and high-performance computing business transition, but in the second quarter it began to increase holdings again.
What really drives revenue growth is the AI/HPC infrastructure business. In the second quarter, hosting revenue reached approximately $136.7 million, far exceeding the $10.6 million in the same period last year, accounting for about 83% of total revenue. Currently, the company has deployed approximately 395 megawatts of billing capacity, which further increased to 437 megawatts by mid-July, corresponding to annualized hosting revenue of approximately $635 million. At the same time, Core Scientific announced a 15-year infrastructure agreement with AMD covering 530 MW of capacity, involving five data center campuses, with potential base contract revenue exceeding $14 billion. Currently, Core's total leasable customer power capacity reaches approximately 1.1 gigawatts, with potential contract revenue exceeding $24 billion.
Of course, the transition is also accompanied by high capital investment. The mining company's capital expenditure in the second quarter reached $797.5 million, used for data center construction and land acquisition, with net cash outflow from investment activities exceeding $1.18 billion in the first half of the year. It also supplemented funds by issuing $3.3 billion in senior secured notes, but interest burden has risen accordingly, and balance sheet leverage has increased significantly. Shareholders' equity remains negative, and the volatility of warrant liabilities persists. In addition, hosting revenue is highly concentrated in a few customers, and construction progress, power acquisition, and supply chain stability will directly affect delivery pace and revenue realization capability.
Core Scientific management pointed out in the second-quarter earnings call that the inflection point of the transition has passed, and the company has the ability to continuously create value for customers and shareholders. The subsequent focus is on efficiently delivering computing capacity, strictly controlling project progress, and allocating capital in a responsible manner.
TeraWulf: Transition expectations move towards performance realization, HPC business becomes main revenue driver
Data shows that TeraWulf's stock price fell about 12.97% in the past month, and fell about 4.29% on the day the second-quarter earnings were released.
In the same quarter, TeraWulf's traditional mining business also saw a decline in contribution due to industry cycle effects, but the AI/HPC transformation has begun to show initial results, generating significant revenue.
The second-quarter financial report shows that TeraWulf's total quarterly revenue was approximately $44.77 million, of which Bitcoin mining revenue was only about $12.8 million, while HPC leasing revenue reached approximately $31.93 million, accounting for about 71% of total revenue. Net loss expanded to approximately $940.8 million, mainly due to changes in the fair value of warrants (a loss of $755.7 million); adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $18.34 million. As of June 30, cash and restricted cash totaled approximately $3 billion, with relatively ample liquidity.
On the operational front, the Lake Mariner data center campus is progressing smoothly. As of early July, 102 MW of critical IT capacity was operational, with another 336 MW under construction. The construction cost per MW of critical IT remained within the guidance range of $8 million to $10 million. After the delivery of CB-3, Google's $600 million credit support for Fluidstack's lease obligations has officially taken effect. Meanwhile, TeraWulf is also advancing an application for an additional 250 MW of power capacity. The Lake Hawkeye campus covers approximately 183 acres with potential capacity of about 320 MW of critical IT load, and it is not expected to be operational before 2029.
After the quarter, TeraWulf signed a 20-year data center lease with Anthropic, involving approximately 401 MW of critical IT capacity at the Justified campus in Kentucky. The contract is expected to generate approximately $19 billion in revenue over the contract period, potentially up to approximately $33 billion if Anthropic exercises two five-year renewal options. Initial deliveries are expected to begin in the second half of 2027.
In addition, TeraWulf sold its 50.1% interest in the Abernathy joint venture for approximately $530 million and acquired the Muskie Data Campus in Kentucky, securing a power service agreement of up to 1 GW. The FERC has approved the acquisition of the Morgantown power station in Maryland, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for its subsidiary Chesapeake Data Campus, which can be expanded to up to 1 GW, with data center operations expected to commence around 2030. TeraWulf reiterated its target of adding 250 to 500 MW of critical IT capacity annually, emphasizing a preference for opportunities with stable power, clear customer demand, and scalable infrastructure.
TeraWulf CEO Paul Prager noted that the company is transitioning from platform building to scale execution, with a replicable model centered on controlling power-advantaged infrastructure, securing long-term credit-supported customers, and delivering capacity in phases.
Hut 8: Revenue Surges but Still Loss-Making, Completes Commercialization of First AI Campus
Data shows that Hut 8's stock price fell approximately 6.3% over the past month, and dropped about 9.74% on the day of the second-quarter earnings release.
In the second quarter, Hut 8 generated revenue of approximately $74.9 million, up 81.4% year-over-year. The main driver of revenue growth was the computing business (especially ASIC mining), reaching approximately $72.5 million, with digital infrastructure revenue of $1.3 million and power revenue of $1.2 million. Despite strong revenue performance, the company recorded a net loss of approximately $177.1 million in the quarter, mainly due to a $138.6 million unrealized loss on digital assets. Adjusted EBITDA was $10.45 million, up 149% year-over-year.
On the commercialization front, Hut 8 completed the commercialization of its first gigawatt-scale AI data center campus, Beacon Point, signing a second 352 MW IT lease after the quarter ended. The total value of the base term of the contract is approximately $26.6 billion, with expected average annual net operating income (NOI) exceeding $1.75 billion, covering 949 MW of contracted IT capacity, with tenants mostly investment-grade counterparties. Meanwhile, the River Bend and Beacon Point campuses together have 1,330 MW of power capacity under construction, targeting initial data hall deliveries in the second and third quarters of 2027, respectively. As of the end of the second quarter, Hut 8's development pipeline totaled approximately 8,660 MW, mainly dragged by the $138.6 million unrealized loss on digital assets.
On the financing front, Hut 8 completed $7.5 billion in investment-grade project financing in a single quarter, including $3.3 billion for the River Bend campus and $4.25 billion for Beacon Point Phase 1, both non-recourse and non-dilutive arrangements, setting a precedent for investment-grade construction financing for single-sponsor data center projects, providing solid financial support for large-scale construction.
Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot emphasized that the company's core task has shifted from securing orders to project delivery, aiming to convert contracted capacity into operational assets and stable cash flows as soon as possible, further solidifying the foundation for the transition from mining to AI infrastructure.
CleanSpark: Mining Revenue Declines, $6.6 Billion Lease Becomes the Biggest Highlight
Data shows that CleanSpark's stock price rose approximately 2.16% over the past month, and fell about 5.56% on the day of the second-quarter earnings release.
In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, CleanSpark's revenue was $138 million, down 30.5% year-over-year; net loss reached $239.8 million, compared to a net profit of $257.4 million in the same period last year; adjusted EBITDA also dropped sharply from $377.7 million in the same period last year to a loss of $113 million.
As of June 30, CleanSpark held $202.6 million in cash, Bitcoin assets valued at approximately $814.9 million, net long-term debt of $1.78 billion, and working capital of $761 million. Overall, CleanSpark maintains strong asset reserves and financing capabilities, but continued expansion of data centers and computing infrastructure requires substantial capital investment.
Notably, in this quarter, CleanSpark's revenue still came entirely from Bitcoin mining, with AI/HPC-related businesses not yet contributing actual revenue.
However, the biggest highlight of the quarter was that CleanSpark's Sandersville project signed a 20-year, $6.6 billion data center lease agreement with an unnamed global technology company. According to CleanSpark's disclosure, the project adopts a high-specification data center construction plan, with construction costs of approximately $10 million to $12 million per MW. The 175 MW capacity corresponds to a total investment of approximately $1.75 billion to $2.1 billion, and the project is expected to generate average annual net operating income (NOI) of approximately $330 million. However, this revenue will not be realized until construction is completed, with initial deliveries expected as early as the fourth quarter of 2027. Meanwhile, CleanSpark stated that the required equity funding for the project has been secured, and procurement and prepayment arrangements for key long-lead-time equipment have been completed, ensuring the project's timely operation as planned.
Compared to some mining companies that are still just telling AI stories, CleanSpark's advantage lies in its accumulated scale of power resources, land reserves, and data center operational experience. Currently, its controlled power, land, and data center resources in the United States exceed 1.8 GW.
Judging from the results reported by various mining companies, this AI transformation is entering a watershed stage. For investors, the focus is no longer on who has the biggest AI story, but on more specific operational metrics. For Bitcoin mining companies, having power, land, and computing resources is only a ticket to entry; what ultimately determines valuation re-rating is project delivery capability, customer quality, and the ability to realize future cash flows.
