What happened
Shares of Riot Blockchain (RIOT 0.25%) dipped 26.2% in March, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock surged thanks to momentum for the company's Bitcoin mining operation and strong pricing for the cryptocurrency.
Riot published a business update on March 15, announcing that the company had mined 302 new Bitcoins in the fourth quarter. That update brought its total Bitcoin mining tally for the fiscal year to 1,005. The mining specialist paired the update with news that it would be purchasing 1,500 Antminer cryptocurrency mining rigs from Bitmain Technologies in a $7.53 million deal.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Riot Blockchain has revealed that it had produced 125 new Bitcoins in January, which represented a 23% increase over December's total. Momentum then picked up in February, with the company mining 179 new Bitcoins in the month -- representing a 43% increase compared to January's result.
Riot also published its fourth quarter results on March 31 and delivered results that came in significantly ahead of the market's expectations. The company's mining revenue rose 116% in the fourth quarter, reaching $5.2 million. The business also posted a net profit of $3.9 million in the period, up from a loss of $3.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Riot ended the year with its hashing capacity up 460% and a 110% increase for its Bitcoin on the balance sheet.
Now what
Riot Blockchain stock has lost a bit of ground early in April's trading. The company's share price is down roughly 1.9% in the month so far.
Riot Blockchain is moving forward with the deployment of Antminer rigs that it has purchased, and is looking for additional opportunities for miner purchasing and improving its hash rate growth. The company is also working on developing and testing new Bitcoin miners with partners including Enigma Digital Assets and Lancium. Riot's focus on Bitcoin mining means that its stock could see volatile swings in conjunction with pricing for the cryptocurrency, but it looks like the company is making significant progress on ramping up its mining operations.
Riot Blockchain has a market capitalization of roughly $4.4 billion and is valued at approximately 21 times this year's expected sales.
