Riot Platforms Q1: $167.2m Revenue, Amd Doubles Data Center Deal To 50 Mw

@RiotPlatforms reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $167.2 million, up from $161.4 million a year earlier, as the company posted its first meaningful results from a newly launched data center segment and chipmaker AMD exercised an option to double its contracted capacity at Riot's Rockdale, Texas facility to 50 megawatts.

Revenue Mix Shifts as Data Center Debuts

Bitcoin mining remained the largest revenue contributor at $111.9 million, though that was down from $142.9 million in the same quarter last year, with lower average $BTC prices and a higher global network hash rate weighing on results. Engineering revenue rose to $22.2 million from $13.9 million a year earlier.

The data center segment, making its debut on Riot's income statement, contributed $33.2 million for the quarter — split between $0.9 million in operating lease revenue, which carried a 91% gross margin, and $32.2 million in tenant fit-out services at a 5% margin. CFO Jason Chung noted on the earnings call that the quarter marked the first time Riot's top line included "contracted lease revenue from an investment-grade tenant."

Riot ended Q1 holding 15,679 $BTC on its balance sheet, worth approximately $1.1 billion based on a March 31 price of $68,222 per coin, alongside $282.5 million in cash. The company posted a net loss of $500.5 million, or $1.44 per diluted share, though the bulk of that figure stemmed from non-cash items including a $326.7 million mark-to-market loss on its bitcoin holdings and $97.7 million in depreciation and amortisation.

AMD Expansion Signals Real AI Demand

The headline from the quarter is AMD's decision to exercise a 25 MW expansion option at Rockdale, bringing its total contracted footprint to 50 MW. The 10-year lease is now projected to generate $636 million in total contract revenue and an average annual net operating income of approximately $51 million once fully built out, according to the company's earnings presentation. Capital expenditure for the expansion phase came in at roughly $3.3 million per megawatt, down from $3.6 million per megawatt on the initial build, reflecting efficiency gains.

CEO Jason Les called Q1 2026 a "definitive inflection point" for Riot, saying the AMD expansion validates the company's ability to execute at institutional scale. Riot delivered the first 5 MW of capacity to AMD in January and expects to complete the remaining 20 MW of the initial phase in May, with the additional 25 MW expansion beginning to come online in November. Operating lease revenue is expected to reach a run rate of $37.8 million by year-end, rising to $55.6 million after full 50 MW delivery in 2027.

$RIOT shares rose approximately 7.7% during regular trading on the day of the print and gained a further 2% in after-hours trading, according to Investing.com — a notable reaction given the stock's history of falling after earnings releases. The miner-to-AI-host pivot is becoming a measurable trend across the sector, with Core Scientific, IREN, Cipher Mining, and TeraWulf all converting hash capacity into hyperscaler leases as post-halving mining economics tighten.

Sources:
Stock Titan – Riot Platforms Q1 2026 Press Release
Investing.com – Riot Platforms Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Blockspace – Riot Platforms Q1 Data Center Revenue Report