Hive Blockchain revenue declines by 44% Y/Y despite overall mining production surge

According to its second-quarter (ending Sept. 30) earnings presentation released on Nov. 15, Vancouver-based digital assets mining company Hive Blockchain’s revenue declined by 44% year over year to $29.6 million. During the same period, the company’s net income also decreased from $59.8 million in the prior year’s quarter to a loss of $37 million. 

Hive Blockchain’s net income was notably higher than its revenue in Q2 2022, as the company also recognized over $22 million worth of gains on the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) it mined. Although the company did not suffer material capital losses on coins in Q2 2023, it did, however, record a $26.2 million impairment expense to its mining rigs.

The company’s losses appear to have intensified even though its Bitcoin mining capabilities have further scaled. Year over year, Hive Blockchain mined 31% more BTC than in Q2 2022 for a total of 858 coins, which still has more value after accounting for a 15.9% year-over-year decline in its ETH mining, which amounted to 7,309 coins in the quarter.

The overall production increase was attributed to the opening of the firm’s New Brunswick Bitcoin mining facility over the past 12 months, which brought over 17,300 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners online. Expressing his optimism about the company’s operations, executive chairman Frank Holmes commented:

“Strategically, we have not borrowed expensive debt against our mining equipment or pledged our Bitcoins for costly loans, thus our balance sheet remains healthy to weather this storm. We believe our low coupon fixed debt; attractive green renewable energy prices and high performing energy efficient ASIC chips will help us navigate through this crypto winter.”

However, the company has warned of higher operating expenses going forward due to record-high mining difficulty. Currently, Hive Blockchain encompasses approximately 0.85% of the Bitcoin network’s hash rate. At the quarter’s end, Hive Blockchain reported holding 1,116 BTC, worth $48.4 million, and 25,154 ETH, worth $74.7 million, on its balance sheet.