Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has announced a remarkable net income of $211.8 million for the first quarter of 2024, a staggering 1,000% increase compared to the same period last year.
However, despite this impressive performance, Riot Platforms fell short of analyst revenue estimates.
Riot Platforms released Q1 results on May 1, revealing that mining revenue experienced a significant 55.4% year-on-year surge, reaching $74.6 million.
This growth was primarily attributed to a remarkable 131% increase in the price of Bitcoin.
While the total revenue of the company amounted to $79.3 million, it fell approximately 14% short of the expectations set by research firm Zacks.
Higher Mining Costs Halt Riot’s Progress
Riot Platforms acknowledged that the progress in net income and mining revenue was somewhat hindered by lower Bitcoin production and higher mining costs.
These factors were primarily influenced by the increase in Bitcoin’s network difficulty and hash rate.
The company mined 1,364 BTC during Q1, marking a 36% decrease compared to the same period in 2023.
Additionally, the average cost to mine 1 BTC stood at $23,000, reflecting a substantial 144% increase compared to the previous year, driven by an 89% surge in the global network hash rate.
Furthermore, Riot Platforms recently unveiled plans for a new facility situated in Corsicana, Texas.
CEO Jason Les expressed confidence that the facility, once fully developed, would become the largest dedicated Bitcoin mining facility globally.
The company aims to increase its hash rate capacity from 12.4 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 31 EH/s by the end of this year.
It anticipates a further boost to 41 EH/s when the Corsicana facility is fully deployed in 2025. Riot Platforms has set a long-term goal of reaching 100 EH/s by 2027 or shortly after.
Currently, the company holds the third-largest hash rate among miners, trailing behind Marathon Digital and Core Scientific.
Following the announcement, Riot’s share price experienced a 2.87% decline on May 1, reaching $9.82.
However, it rebounded slightly with a 1.1% increase in after-hours trading, according to Google Finance.
Notably, Riot Platforms achieved impressive results in 2023, with total revenues reaching an all-time high of $281 million.
Earlier this year, Riot has joined the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) to sue the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), accusing the agency of making unlawful data collection demands from the Bitcoin mining sector.
Bitcoin Miners Adjust Operations After Halving
Bitcoin miners, including Riot Platforms, have been adjusting their operations after the halving event on April 20, which reduced mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, equivalent to approximately $180,600 at present.
As reported, a notable outflow of Bitcoin from miners could be on the horizon in the months following the upcoming halving event.
In a recent note, Markus Thielen, the head of research at 10x Research, estimated that Bitcoin miners have the potential to liquidate approximately $5 billion worth of BTC after the halving.
Asset manager CoinShares analysis suggests that Riot, TeraWulf, and CleanSpark are among the best-positioned companies to weather the impending storm.