MARA stock (NASDAQ:MARA), Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. is a digital asset technology company, which engages in mining cryptocurrencies, with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets.
The company was founded in 2010 but purchased its first Bitcoin (BTC) in 2021 along with its first Bitcoin mining equipment.
New reports show Marathon Digitial Holdings, Inc. achieved a new record in quarterly BTC production towards the end of 2022.
MARA stock is currently up nearly +107% this year so far (1/12).
Why is MARA stock going up?
It might have to do with the massive volume that’s come in recently due to the latest news.
Let’s discuss it more in depth below.
Latest MARA Stock News
Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., a leader in supporting and securing the Bitcoin ecosystem, recently published unaudited bitcoin (“BTC”) production and miner installation updates for December 2022.
Here are some comments from the company’s management team.
“In 2022, we made significant progress in increasing our hash rate while also transitioning to more sustainable power sources,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s Chairman and CEO.
“Despite challenges earlier in the year, we doubled our hash rate to 7.0 exahashes per second year-over-year, with a majority of it now located at the King Mountain wind farm in West Texas. We finished the year with one of our most productive quarters to date, producing 1,562 Bitcoin in the fourth quarter.
“In December, we expanded our agreement with Applied Digital to deploy roughly 12,000 S19 XPs, which are approximately 30% more energy efficient than the prior generation of servers, at their Jamestown facility in North Dakota. This site is already constructed and operational, and our expectation is for miners to come online within the next month (February 2023).
“We also took proactive measures to strengthen our liquidity position and enhance the performance of our mining fleet. Given the macroeconomic uncertainty heading into 2023, we decided to fully pay down outstanding balances under our revolving credit agreement. This freed up bitcoin that was previously held as collateral, increasing our unrestricted bitcoin holdings from 4,200 BTC as of November 30 to 7,815 BTC (approximately $129.3 million) as of December 31. We finished the year with $103.7 million in cash on hand.
“As we enter 2023, we remain confident in our ability to scale Marathon into one of the largest and most energy efficient Bitcoin mining operations globally. We have thousands of miners ready to be energized over the coming months, which we expect to more than triple our current production capacity to approximately 23 exahashes by mid-year.”
Is MARA Stock Shorted?
MARA stock (Marathon Digital) has a short interest of 37.79%.
Nearly 50% of its trading volume is being traded in dark pools, per Fintel.
Investors may see MARA’s short interest drop as share prices rise, what may also be known as a MARA short squeeze.
The latest MARA stock news is enough to send short sellers running for the hill.
Scalability in 2023 may prove to be rewarding for shareholders both short term and long term.
MARA Stock Forecast: Is MARA Stock a Buy or Sell?
The current analyst consensus for MARA stock is a ‘BUY’.
Analysts are predicting Marathon Digital to surge as high as $20 per share this year, up +185% from its current share price of $7.03.
They are also giving the company stock a median of $12 per share (+70.7%) and a low of $4 for the next 12 months.
Last year, MARA stock traded at nearly $30 per share, which means bulls might be able to take share prices up to retest those levels again, if not higher.
These are of course just predictions after all.
The stock currently has a bullish outlook for 2023 and as we experienced last year, just about anything can happen in the market.
Marathon Digital’s high short interest shows us there’s room for growth beyond analyst predictions.
In 2021 for example, analyst Rich Greenfield gave AMC Entertainment stock a $0.01 price target.
AMC later surged to its all-time high of $72 per share when it squeezed a good percentage of short sellers.
Is A MARA Short Squeeze Possible?
Given Marathon Digital’s high short interest backed by heavy buying pressure, a short squeeze is certainly a possibility.
MARA has the short interest to squeeze short sellers as well as a bullish outlook for 2023.
As more investors discover the potential behind the company, buying volume will increase, inevitably triggering a short squeeze.
On Thursday (1/12), Marathon surged more than +30% when trading volume peaked at 67 million, more than 3.5x it’s average volume of 19 million.
Heavy buying volume and long bullish interest in the company stock is what’s going to drive share prices upward.
But I’m curious to know what you think.
Where do you see the company stock going during the first quarter of 2023?
Share your thoughts in the comment section of the blog down below.
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What about the argument that these billion dollar hedge funds can keep paying out forever?