Shares of Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. MARA were trading higher in premarket trading on Friday despite the company reporting fourth-quarter results that trailed estimates. Investors were apparently willing to look past the weakness, stemming primarily from Bitcoin's BTC/USD weakness, as the crypto market rebounds and the company focuses on efficiency, going forward.
What Happened: The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Bitcoin miner reported late Thursday that it recorded a loss of $686.7 million or $6.05 per share for the fourth quarter of 2022, much wider than the loss of $37.1 million or $0.37 per share it reported for a year ago.
The company attributed the wider loss to an impairment charge of $332.9 million related to the carrying value of mining rigs and advances to vendors and another charge of $317.6 million related to the carrying value of its digital assets.
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Additionally, the company’s bottom line took a hit from a lower total margin of $150.4 billion due to the impact of a reduction in Bitcoin prices, costs related to the Hardin facility exit and increased depreciation costs related to an increase in mining rigs in operation.
Total quarterly revenue fell from a restated $68.36 million to $28.42 million, down about 58% year-over-year. Analysts, on average, estimated revenue of $34.95 million.
Among other metrics, the company noted that its Bitcoin production per day increased 30 42% quarter-over-quarter to 17 and total Bitcoin produced during the quarter was at a record 1,562.
Accent On Efficiency: “2022 was a difficult year to be a Bitcoin miner, but our team met each challenge head on, and we emerged smarter and more resilient,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s Chairman and CEO.
The company hinged its hopes on improving efficiency to turn things around. “We have two primary goals for 2023: the first is to energize our previously purchased mining rigs to reach our target of 23 exa-hashes by the middle of this year, and the second is to optimize our performance – to become more effective and more efficient, Thiel said.
Price Action: In premarket trading on Friday, the stock rose 5.50%, to $8.05, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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