digital marathon (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares fell in after-hours trading after the cryptocurrency mining company reported first-quarter results. Earnings per share were $1.26, which beat analysts’ estimates of $0.03 per share. Additionally, revenue for the quarter rose 223.3% to $165.2 million. However, this missed analysts’ expectations of $180.7 million, likely causing prices to fall.
This increase was driven by the rise of Bitcoin (Bitcoin-dollar) production and an increase in BTC prices. In fact, during the quarter, MARA increased its Bitcoin production by 28% to 2,811 BTC while the average price of mined Bitcoin jumped 126% year-on-year. Additionally, the company improved its hash rate capacity to 27.8 hashes/s (exahashes per second) from 11.5 hashes/s in Q1 2023.
At the end of March 2024, the company had cash and bitcoin holdings worth $1.6 billion. Additionally, Marathon plans to increase its hashrate capacity to 50 EH/s.
Is MARA a good investment?
Marathon’s stock price has risen almost 100% over the past year due to the strong cryptocurrency market. Overall, The Street has a consensus rating of Marathon Digital along with an average price target of $21.76. However, analysts’ opinions on the stock are likely to change after its earnings report.
