New York, February 17, 2026, 07:42 EST — Premarket
- MARA gave back roughly 1.5% ahead of the bell, pulling back after a surge of over 9% in the previous session.
- Bitcoin slipped to around $68,000, bringing fresh attention to crypto-linked stocks as U.S. trading resumed following the holiday.
- All eyes shift to Friday, with U.S. PCE inflation numbers in focus. Traders are using the data to gauge possible rate moves and risk appetite.
MARA Holdings (MARA) slipped roughly 1.5% to $7.80 ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell, paring back some of its advance after the bitcoin miner surged over 9% during the previous regular session. 1
After the long President’s Day weekend shuttered U.S. equity trading on Monday, the stock is moving again as investors return to their desks and process the break. 2
Futures for major U.S. stock indexes slipped, with traders grappling with jitters over AI shakeups and a heavy slate of economic releases this week. “We continue to see the AI disruption trade as a rotation theme, rather than a risk-off,” Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar said. Attention is also zeroed in on Friday’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index—the Federal Reserve’s go-to inflation measure. 3
Bitcoin slipped around 1.7% to trade near $68,169, with a bout of turbulence continuing to keep volatility high throughout crypto markets.
Shares of other bitcoin miners trading in the U.S. also jumped in the last session. Riot Platforms climbed about 7%, while CleanSpark added close to 6%, highlighting just how much more volatile the miners can be compared to the token.
MARA operates extensive computing systems for bitcoin mining, leaving its share price closely linked to crypto swings and shifts in risk appetite. 4
That’s become relevant, with miners behaving much like a leveraged play on bitcoin itself. When prices snap back, these stocks can surge, but when sentiment sours or liquidity dries up, they can unwind just as quickly.
But leverage isn’t a one-way street. Should bitcoin keep falling, or if stocks—especially those volatile high-flyers—deepen their declines, miners’ earlier gains can unwind fast. Those premarket swings? They don’t always hold up when the bell rings.
MARA’s investor relations calendar showed no scheduled events, so traders turned instead to broader macro signals and whatever comes next for crypto, with no company-specific catalysts on the immediate horizon. 5
Beyond crypto, nerves are showing in global markets, especially with the sharp downturn in AI-focused stocks rattling confidence across the board. “The markets are taking each sector one-by-one and stress testing their business models,” said Axel Botte, head of market strategy at Ostrum Asset Management. 6
For MARA, traders are zeroed in on Friday’s PCE inflation print. The focus: whether bitcoin holds or breaks from the $70,000 mark, a level that’s become the week’s benchmark for action.
