Riot Platforms Stock Surges 20% After Q3 Revenue Beat and $28 Billion Corsicana AI Lease

Riot Platforms reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $181.4 million, topping analyst estimates of $161 million and rising 1% year over year, while earnings per share beat expectations by $0.33, or roughly 103%. Shares jumped approximately 20% in early trading to around $16.88 on the news.

The standout announcement was a 15-year triple-net powered land lease covering the entirety of Riot's Corsicana campus, representing 910 megawatts of critical IT capacity, with a leading Frontier AI Lab as the tenant. The deal carries approximately $28 billion in contracted revenue over its initial term and roughly $1.8 billion in average annual rent, making it the largest lease in Riot's history. Combined with existing agreements, Riot's total contracted capacity rose to 1,151 megawatts, representing approximately $38 billion in long-term contracted revenue.

Revenue by segment showed Bitcoin Mining at $116.0 million, ahead of the $112.85 million estimate, Engineering at $47.0 million against a $29.63 million estimate, and Data Center operations at $18.4 million. Riot mined 1,637 bitcoin in the quarter, slightly above the consensus of 1,628.

To fund its data center expansion, Riot sold 10,599 bitcoin during Q3, cutting its holdings from 11,380 coins at the end of June to 2,418 by September 30, liquidating roughly 79% of its treasury. Year-to-date bitcoin sales reached 20,264 BTC, generating approximately $1.5 billion in proceeds. The company ended the quarter with $950.2 million in combined cash and bitcoin and stated it does not currently anticipate issuing equity to fund announced projects. Separately, Riot completed a custody transfer of its digital assets from NYDIG Trust Company to BitGo Bank and Trust, ending an arrangement in place since November 2023 with no early exit penalties.