United States Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital saw revenues surge in 2023 as it swung to a profit, however, company stock dipped following the release of its fourth-quarterly revenue report.
Marathon Digital released its fourth-quarter and annual earnings report on Feb. 28, revealing that the firm made a record $387.5 million in revenue in 2023, increasing 229% from the previous year.
“2023 was a record-breaking year for Marathon, during which we achieved our primary objectives of energizing our fleet of previously purchased mining rigs and optimizing our performance,” said Marathon CEO Fred Thiel.
Fourth-quarter revenue increased 452% to $156.8 million, beating analyst estimates and rising significantly from $28.4 million in Q4 2022. Analysts had estimated a quarterly revenue of $148.8 million.
The increase in revenue was driven by a 172% increase in Bitcoin production year-over-year, coupled with around double the average BTC price during the period, it stated. The firm sold 56% of the Bitcoin it produced during the quarter to fund operating costs.
Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) improved to $260 million in Q4, 2023, from a loss of $374 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Marathon’s Bitcoin production increased 210% to a record 12,852 BTC in 2023. Additionally, its energized hash rate increased 253% to 24.7 EH/s (exahashes per second) in 2023 from just 7.0 EH/s the previous year.
“While 2023 was a banner year for Marathon. We have never been more optimistic about Marathon’s future,” commented Thiel at the company earnings call.
Salman Khan, Marathon’s Chief Financial Officer, added, “We entered 2024 with a strong balance sheet that has us well-positioned for the upcoming halving and beyond.”
Related: Crypto miner Marathon Digital unveils Bitcoin layer 2 network Anduro
Despite the positive earnings report, the company’s shares dipped 6.7% on the day in a fall to $28.95 in after-hours trading on Feb. 29.
Nevertheless, shares in the mining giant have surged more than 300% over the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, Marathon has recently announced that it was incubating and developing a Bitcoin layer-2 sidechain platform called Anduro on Feb. 28 as it branches out from crypto mining.
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