Riot Platforms shares rise as AMD expands data center capacity deal

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Riot Platforms, AMD expand data center

Highlights

AMD expands its contracted data center capacity at Riot Platforms' Rockdale facility from 25 to 50 megawatts, with potential to reach 150 megawatts, generating approximately $636 million over 10 years.
Riot secures improved terms on a $200 million bitcoin-backed credit line with Coinbase, cutting the interest rate to 6.15% and releasing 1,544 bitcoin from collateral as lender confidence grows.
Q1 data center revenue hits $33.2 million, bitcoin mining revenue falls to $111.9 million, and Riot sells 3,688 BTC as pressure mounts to shift from mining to AI infrastructure.

Data center expansion and financing shift

As reported by Riot Platforms’ first-quarter financial results and earnings transcript, AMD exercises an option to double its contracted capacity at the Rockdale site to 50 megawatts, with potential to increase that commitment to 150 megawatts. Riot says the agreement could generate about $636 million over a 10-year term, underscoring the scale of its move into data center hosting.

The company also secures better terms on its $200 million bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase, reducing the rate to a fixed 6.15% from 8.3% and releasing 1,544 bitcoin that had been pledged as collateral. Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, says the market is pricing in a lower cost of capital as the expanded AMD deal strengthens lender confidence.

AI pivot gains traction amid mining pressure

Riot has been one of the few remaining pure-play bitcoin miners that had not moved aggressively into hosting AI computing, even as peers opened their data centers to diversify away from mining. More recently, activist investor Starboard urges management to accelerate the transition from bitcoin mining toward AI infrastructure, and the latest expansion suggests that strategy is beginning to gain traction.

For the quarter ended March 31, Riot reports total revenue of $167.2 million, up from $161.4 million a year earlier, helped by $33.2 million in initial data center revenue. Bitcoin mining revenue declines to $111.9 million from $142.9 million, mainly because of lower bitcoin prices and tougher mining competition.

Riot’s shares are up about 147% over the last 12 months, while bitcoin is down nearly 17% over the same period. The company is also accelerating bitcoin sales after previously retaining all of its mined tokens, and Bitcoin Treasuries data show it sells 3,688 BTC during the first quarter; Riot ends March with 15,679 BTC and $282.5 million in cash.

Our earlier coverage of Related Digital and Blackstone’s Michigan data center project detailed how a special-purpose issuer is funding a 974MW campus in Washtenaw County backed by long-term, triple-net leases to Oracle America Cloud Services and an Oracle Corporation guaranty. We noted that the $14 billion senior secured notes were rated BBB with a Stable Outlook, with credit support tied to landlord-favorable lease terms but with elevated construction risk given the project’s scale and timeline through 2028.

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