Marathon Digital Q1 loss narrows thanks to bitcoin rally

Marathon Digital Holdings' ( NASDAQ: MARA ) loss and revenue for Q1 improved markedly from the prior quarter thanks to bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) rally as well as the reduced cost to mine during the three-month period. The company maintained its mining capacity goal of reaching 23 exahash per second by the middle of 2023 "with more hash rate coming online in the months ahead," said Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel. Q1 net loss per share of -$0.05, vs. average analyst estimate of -$0.09, narrowed from -$3.14 in the previous quarter and from -$0.12 a year before. Total revenue of $51.1M, exceeding the $48.8M consensus, jumped from $28.4M in Q4 2022 and slipped from $51.7M in the year-earlier quarter. In turn, the cost of revenues rose to $51.1M from $43.6M in Q4 2022 and from $26.4M in Q1 2022. MARA edged up 0.4% in after-hours trading. As a result of lower impairment on digital assets, in addition to larger realized gains on digital assets sold, total operating expenses dropped to $3.88M from $395.8M in Q4 2022 and from $39.9M in Q1 of last year. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $18.6M, vs. -$374.0M in Q4 2022 and $9.77M in Q1 2022. Conference call on May 11 at 8:30 a.m. ET. More on Marathon Digital Holdings Marathon Digital Q1 Earnings Preview: Shares Should Rally Barring No Surprises Marathon Digital: Look Out Below