Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) has announced a super 670% year-on-year surge in revenue in their earnings call for the third quarter of 2023. The firm’s latest results, were unveiled in a Nov. 8 filing.
For the first time in two years, our combined cash and bitcoin holdings exceeded our debt at the quarter’s end
Marathon’s CEO and Chairman, Fred Thiel.
Marathon’s impressive financial turnaround was driven by a meteoric 467% increase in Bitcoin (BTC) production. They have upped their daily mined BTC from 6.7 in Q3 2022 to an astounding 37.9 in Q3 2023.
This growth in production was further bolstered by a 403% spike in Marathon’s hashrate over the same period.
How did Marathon mine so much Bitcoin?
Marathon’s innovative 27-megawatt hydro-powered mining venture in Paraguay can be credited partly for this significant boost in hashrate. They also unveiled plans for a new 280-kilowatt (kW) pilot mining project in Utah that will use methane gas to generate electricity for powering the project.
Marathon’s CEO and Chairman, Fred Thiel, said that this rise in production has solidified their financial footing. This development is necessary as the Bitcoin halving approaches by April 2024.
Marathon’s success was further highlighted by a $417 million note exchange in September. It reducex Marathon’s long-term debt by 56% and delivered over $100 million in cash savings for its shareholders.
Marathon has expressed its desire to further push the hashrate . Their currebt hashrate stands at 23.1 exahashes per second. They want to raise it to 26 EH/s and an additional 30% in 2024 because of the halving.
Marathon’s stock, how’s it doing?
Initially, the stock price tumbled 6.9% to $8.55, on the same day Marathon announced its results. But as per Google Finance, the stock rebounded by 4.3% in after-hours trading after the earnings call was released.
On the other hand, financial analyst Jaran Mellerud weighed in on Marathon’s stock valuation. He pointed out that Marathon, along with other mining companies, has a high “enterprise value-to-sales ratio.” This metric reflects a company’s worth in relation to its revenue. Mellerud indicated that a high ratio often suggests overvaluation.
According to Mellerud’s analysis, Marathon is among the companies with a ratio of 5.6, alongside Cipher, with 7.8, and Iris Energy at the same ratio. Riot closely follows with a ratio of 5.5.
Mellerud credited this overvaluation to investments from major players like BlackRock and Vanguard. They have driven these companies’ stock prices higher. However, he predicted that this trend may shift. It may potentially lead to the rise of new and more popular companies in the crypto mining sector.
