Hut 8 First-Quarter Revenue Drops 64% as Bitcoin Mining Difficulties Bite

The mining firm had to turn off about 8,000 machines in Ontario due to a dispute with its energy provider in mid-November.

AccessTimeIconMay 11, 2023 at 12:03 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 1:28 p.m. UTC

Bitcoin miner Hut 8 Mining (HUT) first-quarter revenue dropped a greater-than-estimated 64% to C$19 million ($14.16 million) from the year earlier as the company was forced to turn off some machines due to a dispute with its energy provider.

Revenue fell 13% from the previous quarter, missing analyst expectations of C$21.2 million. The Toronto-based company reported earnings per share (EPS) of C$0.47 compared with forecasts for a loss of C$0.15 on FactSet.

  • What Do EigenLayer's Outflows of $2.3B Signal?
    00:57
    What Do EigenLayer's Outflows of $2.3B Signal?
  • What Do TradFi Crypto Moves Mean for Decentralization?
    04:20
    What Do TradFi Crypto Moves Mean for Decentralization?
  • Marathon Digital Buys $100M BTC; India's Special Task Force for Crypto-Related Drug Trafficking
    02:02
    Marathon Digital Buys $100M BTC; India's Special Task Force for Crypto-Related Drug Trafficking
  • Ether Slides as Grayscale's ETHE Outflows Ramp Up
    00:53
    Ether Slides as Grayscale's ETHE Outflows Ramp Up
  • While the crypto mining industry is starting to emerge from a brutal crypto winter that saw major names like Compute North and Core Scientific (CORZ) file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Hut 8 had to turn off about 8,000 machines in its Ontario facility due to a dispute with its energy provider in mid-November. Since then, it has managed to bring only about 1,000 back online.

    On top of that, its facility at Drumheller, Alberta is operating at just 15% capacity due to electrical problems that have damaged the equipment. The site likely accounts for about 0.9 EH/s of Hut 8’s total 2.6 EH/s of computing power.

    Hut 8 stock was little changed in pre-market trading on the Nasdaq, down 0.55% at $1.82 at the time of writing. The shares have more than doubled in price in 2023, but remain lower by 34% on a year-over-year basis.

    Hut 8 is in the process of a merging with U.S. Bitcoin Corp. (USBTC), a private miner with operations in New York and Texas.

    CORRECTION (May 11, 12:16 UTC): Corrects per-share figures to Canadian dollars in second paragraph. An earlier version of this story had them in U.S. dollars.

    Edited by Sheldon Reback.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

    Eliza Gkritsi

    Eliza Gkritsi is a CoinDesk contributor focused on the intersection of crypto and AI.

    Jamie Crawley

    Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.