MARA Holdings' stock soared 5.08% intraday on Thursday, driven by the company's announcement of a major strategic acquisition aimed at pivoting beyond Bitcoin mining into the high-growth AI infrastructure sector.

The surge follows MARA's definitive agreement to acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power from FTAI Infrastructure for approximately $1.5 billion. The deal is a cornerstone of MARA's shift towards digital infrastructure and energy generation to power artificial intelligence applications. The acquisition includes a 505-megawatt combined-cycle gas power plant in Ohio and over 1,600 acres of land, providing the foundation for a large-scale AI data center campus.

Analysts view the transaction as significantly accretive, with Long Ridge expected to contribute approximately $144 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA and increase MARA's owned and operated power capacity by about 65%. CEO Fred Thiel emphasized that "power is the scarce input in AI," positioning this acquisition as a critical move to control a highly efficient energy platform for future AI and high-performance computing development.