Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin (BTC) mining company, has reported a net income of $211.8 million for Q1 2024, marking a 1,000% increase from the previous year and setting a new record for the company. However, despite the impressive growth, Riot fell short of analyst revenue estimates.
The Q1 results, released on May 1, revealed that mining revenue had surged by 55.4% year-on-year to reach $74.6 million. This increase was primarily driven by a 131% rise in the price of Bitcoin.
Overall, Riot’s total revenue for the quarter amounted to $79.3 million, falling 14% short of the estimates provided by research firm Zacks.
The company attributed the slower growth in net income and mining revenue to lower Bitcoin production and higher mining costs. These factors were a result of the increased difficulty and hash rate of the Bitcoin network.
During Q1, Riot mined 1,364 BTC, which represented a 36% decrease compared to the same period in 2023. The average cost to mine 1 BTC was $23,000, a 144% increase from the previous year. Riot stated that this increase was primarily due to the 89% rise in the global network hash rate.
Riot recently announced the opening of a new facility in Corsicana, Texas, which CEO Jason Les believes will become the largest dedicated Bitcoin mining facility globally once fully developed.
The company plans to increase its hash rate capacity from 12.4 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 31 EH/s by the end of the year. By 2025, when the Corsicana facility is fully deployed, Riot anticipates its hash rate will reach 41 EH/s. Furthermore, the company has set a long-term goal of achieving a hash rate of 100 EH/s by 2027 or shortly thereafter.
According to Hashrate Index, Riot currently holds the third-largest hash rate among miners, trailing behind Marathon Digital and Core Scientific, with hash rates of 24.7 EH/s and 16.9 EH/s, respectively.
On May 1, Riot’s share price experienced a 2.87% decrease to $9.82. However, it has since risen by 1.1% in after-hours trading, according to Google Finance.
Bitcoin miners have been adjusting their strategies following the halving event on April 20, which reduced the mining rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Despite the decrease, the latter is currently valued at around $180,600.
It is worth noting that many hip hop stars have shown a growing interest in cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin.