TLDR
- MARA Holdings reported earnings of $1.24 per share, far exceeding analyst expectations of a $0.13 per share loss
- Q4 revenue jumped 37% to a record $214.4 million, well above the expected $188 million
- MARA increased Bitcoin holdings by 197% to 44,983 Bitcoin at year-end
- The company is exploring AI opportunities, focusing on inference processing infrastructure
- MARA stock jumped 5.5% Thursday but remains 60% below its November high
MARA Holdings, formerly known as Marathon Digital, surprised Wall Street with unexpected profits in its most recent earnings report. The Bitcoin mining company posted impressive financial results despite recent cryptocurrency market volatility.
MARA reported earnings of $1.24 per share for the fourth quarter. This was double the 66 cents per share from the same period last year. Analysts had expected a loss of 13 cents per share.
Revenue reached a record $214.4 million. This represents a 37% increase year-over-year. The figure easily surpassed analyst expectations of $188 million.
The strong financial performance came despite a decrease in Bitcoin production. MARA mined 2,492 Bitcoin in Q4. This was down from 3,490 for the same period last year.
However, the company increased its total blocks won by 25%. They secured 703 blocks in Q4 compared to 562 blocks in Q4 2023.
MARA’s hash rate, which measures computational mining power, increased by 115%. This improvement came through strategic acquisitions and expanded access to electrical power.
The company significantly increased its Bitcoin holdings. They grew by 197% to 44,983 Bitcoin by year-end. Of that total, 10,374 Bitcoin were lent to third parties or used as collateral for borrowings.
MARA didn’t just mine cryptocurrency. They also purchased 15,574 Bitcoin during the quarter. The average cost of these purchased coins was $98,531 each.
The company didn’t sell any Bitcoin during the quarter. This strategy shows their long-term confidence in the cryptocurrency’s value despite short-term price fluctuations.
MARA is diversifying beyond just mining. The company owns wind farms and hydroelectric generators with 136 megawatts of power-generating capacity.
They collect revenue by reporting the fair value of Bitcoin holdings. They also sell data center services and some of the energy they generate.
Exploring opportunities in artificial intelligence.
MARA is exploring opportunities in artificial intelligence. They believe the next AI wave will focus on inference and processing user requests.
They see potential in providing distributed, low-latency infrastructure for AI inference requests. This infrastructure would be positioned closer to end users than traditional data centers.
MARA stock jumped 5.5% following the earnings announcement. However, the stock remains nearly 60% below its November high after a three-month retreat.
Bitcoin traded around $84,000 late Thursday. This represented a modest recovery from Wednesday’s low near $82,000, which was Bitcoin’s lowest price since November 10.
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