Marathon Digital Beats Q1 Estimates as SEC Extends Probe

Marathon Digital Holdings Reports First-Quarter Earnings

• Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) reported a narrower-than-forecast first-quarter loss per share as a rising bitcoin price and increased production helped lift the Las Vegas-based company back toward profitability.
• Revenue rose to $51.1 million from $28.4 million in the previous three months. The figure was little changed from the year-earlier period. Analysts had forecast revenue of $48.8 million for the quarter.
• The company also said it received another subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is looking into related party transactions that may have violated federal securities laws.

Investment Highlights

Marathon Digital Holdings reported a net loss of $0.05 per share compared with an average estimate of $0.08 according to FactSet data, as well as reduced cost to mine and improved balance sheet during the first quarter . Its operational hashrate increased 64% quarter on quarter to 11.5 exahash/second (EH/s), with bitcoin production hitting a record of BTC 2,195 ($80 million). The price of bitcoin surged more than 70% in the first quarter, resulting in Marathon shares falling more than 2% in pre-market Nasdaq trading on Thursday morning following this news release .

SEC Investigation

The SEC subpoena follows an earlier one regarding the issuance of 6 million shares of common stock related to its Hardin, Montana facility, which is being investigated by the US regulatory body due to potential violations of securities law through related party transactions . Marathon is cooperating with these investigations, although no further details have been released yet at this time .

Changes Since Last Quarter

Since facing construction and operational hurdles last year, including the bankruptcy of one of its hosting partners – Compute North , Marathon has increased production significantly , improving its performance since last quarter and increasing shareholder confidence going into Q2 2023 .

Conclusion

Overall , Marathon Digital Holdings posted encouraging results for Q1 2023 , despite continued uncertainty surrounding SEC investigations into potential violations . With rising Bitcoin prices buoying their profits and continuing improvements in operational performance , MARA’s outlook looks promising going into Q2 2023 and beyond .