Riot Platforms cuts hash rate outlook, posts $154 million net loss in Q3 earnings

For the quarter ending Sept. 30, the company reported total revenue of $84.8 million, of which $67.5 million came from Bitcoin mining. The Bitcoin mining gross profit, excluding depreciation, was $28.4 million, marking a 42% margin, a significant drop from the 181% margin in the same quarter last year. Rising costs in electricity, labor, and insurance contributed to the difference.

The company posted a net loss of $154.4 million, or $0.54 per share, compared to a net loss of $84.4 million ($0.32 per share) in Q2 and a $0.44 per share loss in the year-ago quarter. This also substantively missed the consensus estimates that expected a loss of $0.18 per share.

This larger loss included $38 million in unrealized losses on marketable equity securities, $30.6 million in non-cash stock-based compensation, and $60 million in depreciation and amortization expenses.

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA came to a loss of $3.6 million for the quarter, slightly deeper than the $3.1 million loss recorded in the same period last year.

Despite the halving event in April and increased network difficulty, Riot Platforms produced 1,104 Bitcoin during the quarter, which is in line with the 1,106 BTC mined during the year-ago quarter. The company had experienced a 52% year-over-year decline in the previous quarter.

"Riot also ended the quarter having maintained our robust balance sheet strength, with approximately $1.3 billion in cash, restricted cash, marketable equity securities, and 10,427 bitcoin held," CEO Jason Les said in the release. "Looking forward, I am incredibly excited about our future path, as our teams continue working to develop and deploy even more power capacity and hash rate across Texas and Kentucky, towards Riot's next goal of achieving 100 EH/s in self-mining capacity."

Riot Platforms expects to reach a self-mining hash rate of 34.9 exahashes per second (EH/s) by year-end 2024, down from its previous 36.3 EH/s target. The revised projection stems from slower-than-expected expansion at newly acquired facilities in Kentucky, now slated to be operational in 2025.

Riot has also lowered its 2025 target from 56.6 EH/s to 46.7 EH/s. Some of its expansion plans for Kentucky will be pushed to 2026, along with delays in substation construction at the Corsicana facility. The company expects Corsicana’s full development to conclude by 2026, aiming for a hash rate of 65.7 EH/s across all facilities.

Riot's stock was trading down about 4% in the after-hours session after falling 3.6% in regular trading. Shares are down about 32% in the year-to-date period.