Cryptocurrency miner Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: $RIOT) has reported a surprise profit and record revenue for this year’s third quarter.
The company, which specializes in mining Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC), posted Q3 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.26 U.S. That was better than the loss of -$0.12 U.S. that was expected on Wall Street.
Revenue in the July through September quarter more than doubled to reach a record $180.2 million U.S.
Management said that Riot Platforms benefitted from a $93 million U.S. increase in Bitcoin mining revenue and a 6.4% rise in the price of BTC during the quarter.
Riot Platforms mined 1,406 Bitcoin during Q3 at an average cost of $46,324 U.S. per coin.
In its earnings release, the company recorded a $133 million U.S. mark-to-market gain on its Bitcoin holdings. At the end of Q3, Riot held 19,287 Bitcoin valued at $2.2 billion U.S.
The Colorado-based company, which operates large-scale data centres, also announced the initiation of 112 megawatts of additional power at is main Texas campus.
Riot Platforms has announced plans to transform itself into a multifaceted data centre operator that is focused on artificial intelligence (A.I.) as well as crypto mining.
RIOT stock has risen 102% this year (more than doubling in price) to trade at $21.09 U.S. per share.
