Bitcoin
Marathon (MARA) Shares Drop After Missing Q1 Sales Expectations Due to Operational Challenges
Marathon Digital (MARA), one of the largest bitcoin miners, missed consensus Q1 revenue expectations due to operational challenges it faced during the quarter.
The company mined just 2,811 bitcoins during the first three months of the year, a 34% drop from the previous quarter.
“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,” the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Marathon reported first-quarter earnings per share of $1.26, at first glance easily beating Wall Street estimates of $0.02 but not comparable to forecasts as the company recently adopted fair value accounting rules. -approved by FASB. The mark-to-market adjustment was very favorable, given the huge rise in bitcoin prices.
The miner is maintaining its 2024 guidance of increasing to 50 exahash per second (EH/s) and sees further growth in 2025.
Marathon shares fell about 1.5% in after-market trading Thursday. Shares are down 26% this year, while Riot Platforms (RIOT) has seen its share price drop 40%.