Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital's shares fall 8% as it reports wider Q2 losses

Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital reported wider losses in the second quarter of this year, as the company’s operations were mainly impacted by “unexpected equipment failure” and April’s bitcoin halving event.

Marathon, recently rebranded as MARA, reported a net loss of $199.7 million in the second quarter of this year, compared to a loss of $9 million in the same period last year, its latest quarterly report shows. The company booked $145.1 million in total revenues in the second quarter of this year, up 78% year-on-year.

MARA’s shares closed down 7.78% on Nasdaq on Thursday, according to Google Finance. Its share price has dropped 20.89% so far this year.

“During the second quarter of 2024, our BTC production was impacted by unexpected equipment failures and transmission line maintenance at the Ellendale site operated by Applied Digital, increased global hash rate, and the April halving event,” Fred Thiel, chairman and chief executive officer of MARA, said in a statement.

However, Thiel added that the company reached an “all-time high installed hash rate of 31.5 exahash (per second)” in the second quarter and aims to achieve 50 EH/s by the end of this year.

Marathon produced 2,058 bitcoin during the second quarter of this year, marking a 30% decrease from the same period in 2023. Many Bitcoin mining firms have attempted to expand revenues and mining capacities since April’s bitcoin halving, which reduced miner rewards by 50%.

“The Company sold 51% of the BTC it produced during the quarter to fund operating costs,” Marathon said in the Thursday statement.

Last week, however, Marathon announced that it has purchased $100 million worth of bitcoin, taking its balance sheet holdings to over 20,000 BTC — nearly 0.1% of bitcoin’s total 21 million supply. The company added that it would adopt a full “HODL” approach to its bitcoin treasury policy.