Bitcoin miner Riot Platform records $211 million in net revenue
Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Riot Platforms reported net income of $211.8 million for Q1 2024 — a company record and up 1,000% from the same period last year — but missed analysts' revenue estimates.
Riot's first quarter results released on May 1 showed that net income rose 55.4% year-over-year to $74.6 million, driven primarily by a 131% increase in the price of Bitcoin.
The company's total revenue was $79.3 million, falling 14 percent short of estimates by research firm Zacks.
The miner's net revenue and mining revenue increase was partly due to lower Bitcoin production and higher mining costs due to Bitcoin's network complexity and increased hash rate.
Riot recorded 1,364 BTC in Q1, a 36% decrease from the first quarter of 2023. The average cost to mine 1 BTC was $23,000 — 144% more expensive than the same period last year, he said, “mainly due to an 89% increase in hash rate on the global network.”
Riot last month announced a new facility in Corsicana, Texas that CEO Jason Les believes will be the world's largest Bitcoin mine once fully developed.
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The mining company said it is working to increase its hash rate capacity from 12.4 exhashes per second to 31 EH/s before the end of the year.
When the Corsicana facility is fully operational by 2025, the hash rate will grow to 41 EH/s, and Riot has a long-term goal of reaching 100 EH/s by 2027 or sooner.
Riot currently has the third-ranked hash rate, beating rivals Marathon Digital and Core Scientific at 24.7 EH/s and 16.9 EH/s, respectively, according to the Hashrate Index.
Riot's stock is down 2.87 percent to $9.82 since May 1, but is up 1.1 percent in afternoon trading, according to Google Finance.
Bitcoin miners are adjusting after blockchain mining rewards were cut from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC during the halving event on April 20 – the latter currently worth around $180,600.
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