Riot Platforms (RIOT) Stock Jumps 7% After Q1 Earnings Beat

TLDR

• Riot Platforms posted $167.2M in Q1 2026 revenue, boosted by its new data center business
• Data center revenue hit $33.2M in its first quarter of operation, with AMD doubling contracted capacity to 50MW
• Bitcoin mining revenue fell to $111.9M from $142.9M year-over-year due to lower BTC prices and a 24% rise in global hash rate
• Riot held 15,679 BTC worth ~$1.1B at quarter end, and sold over $250M in Bitcoin during Q1
• RIOT stock closed up 7.31% at $18.50 on Friday before slipping 0.57% to $18.40 in after-hours trading

Riot Platforms closed up 7.31% at $18.50 on Friday after reporting $167.2 million in Q1 2026 revenue, beating expectations and marking the company’s first quarter as an active data center operator.

Riot Platforms, Inc., RIOT

The headline number was driven partly by $33.2 million in data center revenue — a brand new line item for Riot, which officially entered the space this quarter.

Bitcoin mining revenue, however, dropped to $111.9 million from $142.9 million in Q1 2025. Two factors hit the business: lower average Bitcoin prices and a 24% increase in the global network hash rate, which made mining more competitive and costly.

Riot mined 1,473 BTC during the quarter, down slightly from 1,530 a year earlier. The average cost to mine one coin crept up to $44,629 from $43,808.

AMD, which had initially contracted 25 megawatts of capacity, exercised an option to double that to 50 megawatts during the quarter — a move Les said confirmed Riot’s ability to operate at institutional scale.

Data Center and Engineering Revenue Add New Layers

Engineering revenue, which covers infrastructure services, rose to $22.2 million from $13.9 million year-over-year, adding a third revenue stream alongside mining and data center operations.

Combined, data center and engineering revenue now account for a meaningful portion of Riot’s total income — reducing the company’s direct exposure to Bitcoin price swings.

At quarter end, Riot held 15,679 BTC valued at roughly $1.1 billion based on a March 31 Bitcoin price of $68,222. Of those, 5,802 coins were held as collateral.

The company maintained $282.5 million in cash, with $76.9 million of that restricted. Riot also sold more than $250 million worth of Bitcoin during the quarter.

After the closing bell, RIOT slipped 0.57% in after-hours trading to $18.40.

Miners Pivot Toward AI and Data Centers

Riot is not alone in this shift. Bitcoin miners across the industry are moving into AI infrastructure as tightening margins push them toward more stable revenue.

Core Scientific is converting its Pecos, Texas site into a 1.5-gigawatt AI-focused data center campus. MARA Holdings has acquired a majority stake in French AI infrastructure firm Exaion.

Hive, Hut 8, TeraWulf, and Iren are also repurposing mining facilities into data centers.

Riot ended Q1 2026 with 15,679 BTC on its balance sheet and a newly operational data center business generating $33.2 million in revenue in its first quarter.

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