Riot Platforms Signs $28 Billion Corsicana AI Data Center Lease, Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results

Riot Platforms has secured the largest lease in its history, signing a 15-year triple-net powered land lease with a leading Frontier AI Lab for the entirety of its Corsicana campus in Texas, a deal that underscores how bitcoin miners are repositioning themselves as large-scale digital infrastructure developers amid surging demand for AI computing capacity.

The agreement covers 910 megawatts of critical IT capacity on a contiguous 332-acre parcel and carries approximately $28 billion in total contract value over the initial term, with average annual rent of roughly $1.8 billion including contractual escalators. The total contract value would rise to approximately $54 billion if both five-year extension options are exercised. Delivery is scheduled in phases, with 400 MW in September 2027, 200 MW in January 2028 and 310 MW in July 2028, and rent on each phase commencing no later than 60 days after delivery of its powered pads.

Combined with the 191 MW Rockdale lease signed earlier this year with the same Frontier AI Lab and a 25 MW contract with AMD, Riot has now leased 1,151 MW of critical IT capacity, representing approximately $38 billion in long-term contracted data center revenue. The company expects this contracted capacity to generate more than $2 billion of average annual net operating income at full deployment. "Today, we are excited to announce the largest lease in Riot's history," said CEO Jason Les, adding that the deal "firmly establishes Riot as a leading developer of large-scale digital infrastructure."

The lease structure limits Riot's capital exposure relative to conventional builds. Total capital requirements are approximately $5.5 billion, or about $6 million per IT MW, which Riot says is roughly half the capital intensity of a typical Tier 3 build and implies an unlevered yield on cost of approximately 33%. Riot will fund $2 million per IT MW for site work and electrical infrastructure, while the remaining $4 million per IT MW will be reimbursed by the tenant in phases after delivery and rent commencement, expected to be financed through non-recourse project debt sized to contracted rent. The company said it does not currently anticipate issuing equity to fund its announced projects.

Under the triple-net structure, Riot provides the land, power infrastructure and powered pads while retaining ownership and maintenance of the high- and medium-voltage infrastructure. The tenant will procure, install, own and operate the modular compute equipment and bear substantially all operating costs, including power costs passed through to it, with rent payable on the full 910 MW irrespective of utilization. Riot estimates an NOI margin of approximately 99% under the arrangement.

The results come alongside Riot's third-quarter 2026 financial report, which showed total revenue of $181.4 million, up 1% year over year, as growth in data center and engineering revenue offset a decline in bitcoin mining. Data Center revenue reached $18.4 million, reflecting the first full quarter of the stabilized 25 MW delivered to AMD, while Engineering revenue rose to $47.0 million from $19.1 million. Bitcoin Mining revenue fell to $116.0 million from $160.8 million a year earlier, primarily driven by a lower average bitcoin price of $70,855 versus $114,361, partially offset by a 16% increase in production to 1,637 bitcoin. The average cost to mine bitcoin excluding depreciation fell to $39,265 from $46,324.

Riot ended the quarter with $950.2 million in cash and bitcoin, including $748.2 million in cash, of which $79.2 million was restricted, and 2,418 bitcoin. During the first nine months of 2026, the company sold 20,264 bitcoin for proceeds of approximately $1.5 billion, primarily to fund data center development, and fully repaid and terminated its $200 million Coinbase credit facility, releasing all pledged bitcoin. Riot said it raised no equity in 2026 and currently anticipates none to fund announced projects.

The Corsicana lease highlights a broader shift among bitcoin miners toward hosting and leasing capacity for AI workloads, a transition that offers long-duration contracted cash flows but also carries execution risk tied to construction timelines, project financing and tenant reimbursement obligations. Riot's ability to secure non-recourse debt on comparable market terms will be a key factor in realizing the economics of the deal.