Riot Platforms(RIOT -17.75%) reported fiscal second quarter 2025 earnings on July 31, 2025.
The company delivered $153 million in revenue, a 5% quarter-over-quarter revenue decline, but net income reached $219.5 million, reversing a GAAP net loss in the prior quarter, primarily due to a mark-to-market gain from Bitcoin (BTC -0.38%) appreciation.
This summary extracts three distinct insights on Riot’s pivot to data centers, operational improvements, and capital strategy, each with direct, unique investment implications.
Riot Platforms accelerates shift to data center platform
Riot began building its team and preparing for the development of high-performance computing (HPC) data centers, hiring Jonathan Gibbs as Chief Data Center Officer and amassing 858 acres at Corsicana to support up to 1 gigawatt of capacity. Their newly acquired hyperscale leadership and land position coincide with growing U.S. power demand and tightening lead times for data center development near Dallas and Austin.
"With the hiring of Jonathan Gibbs, Riot's Chief Data Center Officer, and other highly capable professionals from the traditional data center industry, we find ourselves at the beginning of another exciting chapter in Riot's story. With this new capability, we are about to undergo the next step of our evolution as a company. With the ability to build and develop high-performance compute data centers, we will transform Riot by establishing a robust and scalable data center segment. Successful execution in this regard is Riot's top priority."
-- Jason Les, CEO
This shift positions Riot to capitalize on structurally higher valuation multiples in the data center sector, moving beyond Bitcoin mining cyclicality and securing a foothold in the rapidly expanding HPC infrastructure market.
Operational gains drive Riot Platforms to industry-leading mining efficiency
Riot increased self-mining hash rate by 5% quarter-over-quarter to 35.4 exahash even as the global network hash rate outpaced Riot's growth at 9% quarter-over-quarter. Riot produced 1,406 bitcoins, down slightly from 1,530 bitcoins in the previous quarter. Year-over-year, hash rate utilization rose from 61% to 87%, contributing to a 50% gross margin for the Bitcoin mining segment and placing Riot among the most operationally efficient miners in the sector.
"Most notably, Riot's year-over-year hash rate utilization increased from 61% to 87%, demonstrating our strategic focus on improving operations across all of our sites, even as we significantly scaled our operations and now positioning us among the most efficient operators in the industry."
-- Colin Yee, CFO
This operational efficiency bolsters Riot's ability to generate consistent cash flows, funding strategic transitions.
Bitcoin-driven liquidity enables Riot Platforms to fund data center expansion without dilutive equity raises
Riot ended the quarter with $330 million in cash and over 19,000 bitcoins, representing $2.4 billion in liquidity, and implemented a $200 million Bitcoin-collateralized loan with Coinbase (COIN -16.57%). Proceeds from ongoing Bitcoin production sales and prudent capital allocation reduced reliance on at-the-market (ATM) equity issuance, aligning funding with shareholder value accretion.
"We continue to sell our monthly Bitcoin production in order to finance our ongoing operations while raising additional funds via a $200 million Bitcoin collateralized financing facility with Coinbase, allowing us to reduce issuance of stock through our ATM and fund our multiple growth opportunities, driving long-term shareholder value creation."
-- Jason Les, CEO
This approach minimizes dilution risk and preserves ownership as Riot reallocates capital into growth segments with potentially higher returns than legacy mining.
Looking Ahead
Management raised self-mining hash rate guidance for fiscal fourth quarter 2025 from 38.4 exahash to 40 exahash, with guidance for fiscal first quarter 2026 set at 45 exahash, targeting maintenance of roughly a 4% global network share through 2026.
Riot expects to complete the basis of design for its Corsicana data center by the end of fiscal third quarter 2025 (period ending Sept. 30, 2025), backed by already-secured delivery of 600-megawatt substation infrastructure and land assemblage to support up to 1 gigawatt of data center capacity. No explicit long-term revenue targets or lease signings were provided for the data center segment in this call.
