Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings reported record revenue and earnings in Q4 2024, surpassing analysts' expectations and the challenges presented by last year’s Bitcoin halving event.
The company posted a 37% increase in revenue, reaching $214.4 million, compared to $156.8 million in Q4 2023, owing to a 132% rise in the average price of Bitcoin mined, as per its fourth-quarter statement.
The Florida-based firm’s net income for the quarter grew by 248%, totaling $528.3 million, compared to $151.8 million in the same period last year.
While Bitcoin’s price increase contributed a hefty $119.9 million to the total, the company still faced a $64.2 million drop in revenue due to decreased Bitcoin production, which was heavily impacted by the April halving event.
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The Bitcoin halving effectively slashed the reward miners receive from solving the computational puzzle inherent in proof-of-work networks by 50%, from 6.250 BTC to just 3.125 BTC per block.
As a result, MARA mined 2,492 BTC in Q4 2024, down 27% from the 3,490 BTC produced in the same quarter in 2023.
However, despite the decline in production, MARA was able to increase its total blocks won by 25%, achieving 703 blocks in Q4 2024 compared to 562 in Q4 2023.
Earnings per share also far exceeded expectations, coming in at $1.24, a significant uplift compared to analysts’ forecast of a loss of $0.32 per share, as per Market Beat data.
The EPS result marked a significant earnings surprise, with MARA's stock climbing by 7.41% to $13.38 in after-hours trading, Google Finance data shows.
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MARA's hashrate grew 115% to 53.2 EH/s in Q4 2024, up from 24.7 EH/s in Q4 2023, driven by strategic acquisitions and energy capacity expansion.
Energy hashrates measure the computational power used in mining, typically in exahashes per second (EH/s), determining the rate of transaction processing and network security.
MARA’s energy and hosting costs also rose sharply by 70%, totaling $127.4 million in Q4 2024, compared to $75.1 million in Q4 2023.
The company’s direct energy cost per Bitcoin for its owned mining sites increased to $28,801, up from $23,000 in the previous year, reflecting the challenges of scaling operations while maintaining profitability.
MARA reported a 62% BTC yield per share for 2024 and did not sell any Bitcoin out of its total holding of 44,893 BTC, worth $4.6 billion, in Q4.
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The second-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin is taking proactive steps to differentiate itself from its competitors.
“Our focus is not just on Bitcoin mining but on being the lowest-cost producer in an environment where efficiency and adaptability are paramount,” MARA Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel wrote in the annual shareholder letter.
While MARA comes forward with a strategic push, other miners are struggling to cope with rising energy costs and the impact of Bitcoin’s halving event.
Those challenges are reflected in Bitdeer’s recent performance, as the Singapore-based miner disclosed a significant fourth-quarter loss of $532 million. Despite its efforts to develop proprietary mining chips, Bitdeer’s stock took a hit, dropping 20% following the announcement.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
