Riot Posts Mixed Q2 Earnings, Anticipates Industry Consolidation
Riot Platforms, a prominent publicly-traded Bitcoin miner, released its second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, revealing a blend of financial results. Despite beating FactSet consensus analyst projections for adjusted earnings per share loss, the company reported a revenue of $76.7 million, falling short of analyst estimates at $84.6 million.
In the second quarter, revenue was derived from different sources: $49.7 million from Bitcoin mining, $7.7 million from data center hosting, and $19.3 million from engineering. This figure marked a contrast to the $72.9 million registered in the same period of the previous year, driven by a 27% surge in Bitcoin production but offset by lower Bitcoin prices.
After-hours trading on Wednesday saw Riot’s shares declining by 1.4% to $16.12. However, despite this, Riot’s shares have surged over 383% in 2023, a gain attributed to Bitcoin’s robust performance.
Jason Les, Riot’s CEO, highlighted the core focus on Bitcoin mining, emphasizing the execution of the power strategy at significant scale during the quarter. The company managed to reduce the average cost to mine one Bitcoin to $8,389, compared to an average Bitcoin price of $28,024.
In the context of the Bitcoin mining industry, Riot expects to benefit from the ongoing consolidation trend this year. The company is positioned to capitalize on potential industry challenges and consolidation due to its relative position, liquidity, and absence of long-term debt.
