MARA Kicks Off Miners’ Earnings Season

The bitcoin miner will report its first-quarter results on Wednesday, followed by its first-ever earnings conference call.

Marathon Digital (MARA) is one of the world’s largest publicly traded bitcoin miners. The company is based in the U.S. and operates one of the largest bitcoin mining facilities in North America. MARA is scheduled to release its first-quarter results on Wednesday after the market close. This will be the company’s first earnings report since going public via a reverse merger in February.

The focus of the report will be on how the company plans to accommodate over 70,000 new mining rigs and source new capital for growth, according to Wall Street analysts.

Shares of MARA have surged nearly 20% since its debut on the U.S. market in February and are trading at $9.56 per unit. In December, shares traded as high as $15 a piece before pulling back to current levels on volatility in the cryptocurrency market and news that Bitmain will likely miss production goals for bitcoin mining.

The MARA earnings report is slated to be released after the stock market closes on Wednesday. Marathon will also be hosting its first-ever earnings call at 4:30 p.m. ET on that day.

According to Jefferies analyst Jonathan Petersen, “MARA has taken delivery of ~70k new Bitmain S19s, but delays in finalizing PPAs (power purchase agreements) with Ercot (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) have resulted in ~45 days’ delay for Compute North (the hosting provider) to have the facility ready for MARA’s miners,” He further wrote in a research note on Monday. “We are interested to hear an update about the status of and timeline for deploying these miners.”

The cryptocurrency mining industry has grown rapidly over the past few years, as increasing demand for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has driven up profits for miners. The industry is highly competitive, though, and many of the biggest players have faced difficulties in recent months.

MARA has been one of the most talked-about companies in the blockchain sector for several years now. Despite its popularity, however, MARA recently faced a difficult decision when it came time to decide whether or not to start accepting investments from retail investors.

After much deliberation, the company decided to go ahead and open its investment round to the public. The move is likely to result in some significant earnings for MARA in the coming months, as well as setting a new standard for how blockchain companies can attract funding from ordinary investors.

MARA has also shown an impressive ability to turn a profit, a fact which has not gone unnoticed by investors in the past. Many experts feel that opening the market up to more people will only serve to increase its profitability even further.

Compass Point Research & Trading echoed the questions around Marathon’s strategy for housing its new miners. “We will also be looking for commentary around where the company expects to house its 78k S19 XP miner coming later this year, as MARA has not indicated where they will be hosted,” analyst Chase White wrote in a research note on Monday.

Marathon’s earnings season is kicking off, and investors are looking forward to gaining insight into the company’s plans for future growth. Compass Point’s White notes that one key area of focus will be to understand how the company plans to finance its buildout going forward and what sources of capital might be available.

Compass Point’s White stated, “We will be looking for any commentary around how the company plans to finance its buildout going forward, and specifically what sources of capital might be available,” White wrote. “We expect MARA will likely indicate a willingness to start selling some of its monthly mined BTC to fund a portion of its opex (operating expenses) and capex (capital expenditures).”

Marathon shares have fallen 50% this year, while those of rivals Core Scientific (CORZ) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) have dropped 44% and 54%, respectively.

Latest News