Marathon Digital Holdings, one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) miners, reported disappointing numbers. Due to operational challenges, the company recorded a sharp drop in its Bitcoin production in the first quarter.
According to the latest report to shareholders, the company mined just 2,811 Bitcoins during the first three months of 2024. The amount represents a 34% drop compared to the previous quarter.
Although the halving impacted mining as a whole, the poor results of Marathon, as well as other miners, do not include the post-halving period. Therefore, the drop in the company’s production is due, above all, to its internal challenges.
The company’s shares reacted poorly to the announcement and fell 2.19% in trading on Thursday. However, they already registered an increase of 1.42% in the pre-opening of the market this Friday (10).
Failures and obstacles hindered Marathon’s profitability
The company’s quarterly report points out that Marathon’s biggest challenges in the quarter had to do with the company’s infrastructure.
“Bitcoin production and therefore revenues generated during the quarter were negatively impacted by unexpected equipment failures, transmission line maintenance, and greater than anticipated weather-related drawdowns in Garden City and other locations during the quarter,” said the company.
In other numbers, Marathon recorded mixed performance. Its first quarter earnings per share of $1.26, which far surpassed Wall Street estimates, which were at just $0.02.
However, the company adopted fair value accounting rules recently approved by the FASB, which made these numbers benefit from the huge rise in Bitcoin prices. Therefore, the market viewed the data with caution.
The miner is maintaining its 2024 guidance of increasing to 50 exahash per second (EH/s) and sees additional growth in 2025. But the stock is already down 26% this year, while Riot Platforms (RIOT), another large miner size, saw its share price fall 40% in the same period.
Source: https://www.criptofacil.com/marathon-relata-queda-de-34-na-producao-de-bitcoins-no-primeiro-trimestre/
