Riot Blockchain, Inc. Earnings Recaps
Riot’s shares rose 9.6% after it announced a 15-year, triple-net lease covering its full 910 MW Corsicana campus, a deal that shifts more of its expected cash flow toward long-term AI infrastructure contracts. The lease requires substantially less capital from Riot than a Tier 3 build, though the tenant—not Riot—will own and operate the compute deployment.
Key takeaways
- Riot says the Corsicana lease represents approximately **$28 billion** of revenue over its initial 15-year term, or **$54 billion** if both five-year extension options are exercised.
- Riot expects Corsicana project capital of about **$6 million per IT MW**: $2 million for site work and electrical infrastructure, plus $4 million in tenant reimbursements paid only after each phase is delivered and paying rent.
- The lease supports **910 IT MW** on the same 1 GW of utility load that Riot’s original design expected to support up to 756 IT MW—about 20% more leasable capacity.
- Across three leases with AMD and a frontier AI lab, Riot has contracted **1,151 MW** and approximately **$3.8 billion** in data center revenue, or $7.2 billion if all extension options are exercised. At full deployment, management expects $2.2 billion of average annual NOI and an approximately 28% unlevered yield on cost.
- Riot ended the quarter with **$950 million of total liquidity**, including $748 million in cash and restricted cash and $202 million in Bitcoin. It had just over 2,400 Bitcoin at quarter-end and said it does not currently anticipate issuing equity to fund announced projects.
Shares fell 1.4% following earnings as investors appeared unimpressed by the cautious near-term outlook and absence of incremental data on revenue recognition, despite significant progress securing long-term leases and development milestones.
Key takeaways
- Riot secured a 20-year, 191-megawatt data center lease with a leading AI lab at Rockdale, potentially generating $9.1 billion in contract revenue and up to $16.1 billion if extensions are exercised.
- The company expanded AMD’s lease to 50 megawatts, with ongoing construction targeting full delivery by May 2027.
- A nonbinding LOI for the full Corsicana 1 gigawatt site is in advanced negotiation, signaling strong market interest but not yet a firm commitment.
- Liquidity remains solid at $1.2 billion, funded through Bitcoin sales and mining operations, supporting development capital expenditure.
- Delivery timelines align with expectations, but no new guidance or near-term financial impact was outlined, likely contributing to muted investor enthusiasm.
Riot Platforms shares surged 15.8% following first quarter results, as the company announced AMD's immediate expansion to a 50-megawatt lease and provided detailed visibility into scaled, high-margin data center revenue commitments. The market responded positively to Riot's progress securing institutional partners and executing phased, capital-disciplined growth without share dilution.
Key takeaways
- AMD officially expanded its contracted Rockdale data center footprint from 25MW to 50MW; initial 5MW delivered on schedule, remaining 20MW slated for May 2026, additional 25MW delivered in phases through May 2027.
- Total contracted lease revenue from AMD now stands at $636 million over the primary 10-year term, with an average annual NOI of $51 million.
- Riot’s capital discipline enabled funding these expansions entirely via operating cash flow and disciplined Bitcoin sales, with no new equity issued.
- Riot’s enhanced 168MW Corsicana building design increases campus capacity, targeting AI and HPC tenants with high-density, flexible configurations.
- AMD retains incremental options for up to 150MW of further Rockdale expansion, establishing a de-risked, scalable pipeline for Riot's data center operations.
Riot Platforms demonstrated strong progress in its transformation into a leading data center operator, marked by the initiation of major construction projects and strategic land acquisitions, setting the stage for future growth.
Key takeaways
- Initiated Core & Shell development of two buildings at the Corsicana data center, adding 112 megawatts of IT capacity.
- Acquired an additional 67 acres adjacent to Corsicana, facilitating a future 1 gigawatt utility load campus design.
- Completed a standardized basis of design for data centers, enhancing engagement with potential hyperscale and enterprise tenants.
- Progressed on the Corsicana substation expansion, with the first auto transformer on site and energization scheduled for Q1 2026.
- Continued aggressive hiring for key leadership roles, supporting the rapid development and operational growth of the data center business.