Why Riot Platforms Ended the Week 7% Lower
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By Chris MacDonald – Dec 19, 2025 at 4:19PM ESTKey PointsMoving from a pure-play Bitcoin miner to a world-class provider of compute could be an expensive and lengthy proposition.With the price of Bitcoin declining, Riot's balance sheet is also coming under some pressure.Here's what investors are watching with Riot today, following a steep weekly decline. These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: RIOTRiot PlatformsMarket Cap$5.0BToday's Changeangle-down(8.37%) $1.12Current Price$14.50Price as of December 19, 2025 at 4:00 PM ETRiot Platforms is about to end the week in the red, as investors price in headwinds to this company's key transition.As we wrap up another incredibly volatile week for former cryptocurrency miners transitioning to becoming compute providers, Riot Platforms' (RIOT +8.37%) 7% weekly decline actually isn't as bad as many of its peers. ExpandNASDAQ: RIOTRiot PlatformsToday's Change(8.37%) $1.12Current Price$14.50Key Data PointsMarket Cap$5.0BDay's Range$13.69 - $14.6452wk Range$6.19 - $23.93Volume19MAvg Vol25MGross Margin-1168.45% Like many of its former pure-play Bitcoin mining peers, Riot's full-fledged commitment to becoming a high-performance compute data center play from a crypto mining firm is one investors are clearly watching. Announcing the shell development of two key buildings at the company's Corsicana data center campus, Riot is looking to bring 112 megawatts of total critical IT capacity to the market. That's significant, and a move that brought substantial initial upside to Riot's share price earlier this year, as investors sought to position themselves ahead of this buildout. With that in mind, let's explore why the group of Bitcoin miners-turned-HPC companies is dropping today, and what to make of this move. 2 key factors taking Riot Platforms lower today Source: Getty Images. Some of this week's decline can be chalked up to weakening investor sentiment among companies in sectors that are directly or indirectly tied to the AI theme. AI spending has come under scrutiny, with some analysts suggesting that overall spending levels by AI companies on their ambitions could slow. If that's the case, companies like Riot looking to repurpose their compute capacity to generate higher income than they could in the Bitcoin mining space may be left with less margin moving forward. Thus, it's not only about Riot's potential top-line growth rate moving forward, but also how profitable these revenues will be over time. Now, with more than $2 billion worth of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), inclusive of restricted Bitcoin holdings on Riot's balance sheet, this is also a company that has significant exposure to the price of the world's largest cryptocurrency. Thus, with Bitcoin continuing to remain more than 30% off its recent peak, any sort of digital asset-linked upside is hard to find right now. Advertisement ExpandCRYPTO: BTCBitcoinToday's Change(3.24%) $2772.97Current Price$88249.00Key Data PointsMarket Cap$1.8TDay's Range$85156.00 - $88759.0052wk Range$74604.47 - $126079.89Volume52B I'm of the view that Riot's underlying growth profile looks much more interesting today than it did at the beginning of the year. And despite Bitcoin's recent decline, this company's sharp pivot toward becoming a genuine compute provider is intriguing. I'll be watching this stock closely for any further updates as they become available. Read NextDec 15, 2025 •By Chris MacDonaldHere's Why Riot Platforms Closed More than 10% Lower TodayOct 6, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Riot Platforms Stock Skyrocketed by Nearly 11% on MondayJan 17, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy the Market Was so Thrilled With Riot Platforms Stock This WeekDec 20, 2024 •By Jon QuastMissed Out on MicroStrategy Stock?
Chairman Michael Saylor Is Praising This Little-Known Stock That's Doubled in Value in Just the Last 3 Months.Dec 12, 2024 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Riot Platforms Stock Blasted Nearly 5% Higher on ThursdayJun 25, 2024 •By Leo SunIs Riot Platforms a Millionaire Maker?About the AuthorChris MacDonald is a contributing Motley Fool cryptocurrency analyst covering digital assets and blockchain companies. Chris has more than 10 years of professional experience in venture capital and corporate finance. He holds an MBA in finance from the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.TMFChrisMacDStocks MentionedRiot PlatformsNASDAQ: RIOT$14.50 (+0.08%) $+1.12BitcoinCRYPTO: BTC$88249.00 (+0.03%) $+2772.97*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.Advertisement