Litecoin is a Massachusetts-based open-source, peer-to-peer digital currency that enables instant, near-zero cost payments to anyone in the world. Investors’ interest surrounding the cryptocurrency craze helped Litecoin soar 68% year-to-date.

Litecoin is known as the silver to Bitcoin’s (BTC) gold and is slowly gaining acceptance as a means of payment along with famous cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH). On November 12, AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (AMC) CEO Adam Aron tweeted that AMC will start accepting cryptos such as Litecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and bitcoin cash for online payments. However, according to CoinShares data, Litecoin was the only crypto to register outflows of $0.6 million, month-to-date.

Nevertheless, according to a Data Bridge Marketing report, the cryptocurrency mining market is expected to grow at a 11.5% rate over the next seven years. Even though Litecoin generated significant returns this year, crypto mining stocks Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA), Riot Blockchain, Inc. (RIOT), Hut 8 Mining Corp. (HUT), and Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF) have performed even better. Therefore, it could be wise to add them to your watch list now.

Click here  to check out our Cryptocurrency Industry Report for 2021

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (MARA)                                                                  

Las Vegas-based MARA is a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies, focusing on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. It operates in the digital currency blockchain segment.

On September 9, 2021, MARA announced that DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (DMGGF), a leading bitcoin miner, will join its mining pool, MaraPool. DMGGF will start pointing 100% of its hash rate towards MaraPool. With more companies expected to join the mining pool, MARA expects to lower the environmental impact of bitcoin mining through carbon-neutral mining.

MARA’s revenue for the fiscal third quarter, ended September 30, 2021, increased 6,091% year-over-year to $51.70 million. The company’s non-GAAP income from operations came in at $43.47 million, compared to a $0.79 million loss in the prior-year period. Also, its non-GAAP net income came in at $85.41 million, compared to a  $0.77 loss million in the year-ago period.

Analysts expect MARA’s EPS for the quarter ending December 31, 2021, to increase 1,037.5% year-over-year to $0.75. Its revenue for its fiscal year 2021 is expected to increase 5,051% year-over-year to $224.43 million. The stock has gained 386.5% in price so far this year to close yesterday’s trading session at $50.79.

Riot Blockchain, Inc. (RIOT)

RIOT engages in cryptocurrency mining and the overall blockchain system through its various investments. The Castle Rock, Colo.-based concern has deployed approximately 8,000 application-specific integrated circuit miners at its cryptocurrency mining facility in Oklahoma. Through its subsidiary Tess Inc., it seeks to develop a blockchain-based escrow service for wholesale telecom carriers.

On December 1, 2021, RIOT announced that it had acquired Ferrie Franzmann Industries, LLC (ESS Metron) for roughly $50 million. ESS Metron designs and produces highly engineered electrical equipment solutions that are highly useful for successfully deploying bitcoin mining operations at scale. This acquisition is vital for RIOT because  it will likely complement its ongoing infrastructure expansion to 700 MW and significantly improve its internal engineering capabilities.

For its fiscal third quarter, ended September 30, 2021, RIOT’s total revenue increased 2,532% year-over-year to $64.80 million. The company’s mining revenue grew 2,099% year-over-year to $53.60 million. In addition, its adjusted EBITDA came in at $37.57 million compared to a $0.40 million loss in the year-ago period.

RIOT’s EPS for its fiscal year 2021 is expected to increase 410% year-over-year to $0.93. Its revenue for the quarter ending December 31, 2021, is expected to increase 1,724.2% year-over-year to $96.52 million. The stock has gained 109.5% in price year-to-date to close yesterday’s trading session at $35.60.

Hut 8 Mining Corp. (HUT)

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, HUT is a bitcoin mining company with industrial-scale operations. The company utilizes specialized equipment to solve computational problems to validate transactions on the bitcoin blockchain and provides hosting services to institutional clients.

On October 21, 2021, HUT announced that it had purchased 12,000 new MicroBT M30S+ and M30S++ miners from Inchigle Technology Hong Kong Ltd. When these new miners start functioning along with the previously announced investments, HUT’s total contracted capacity will reach approximately 3.57EH/s, in addition to 1,600 Gigahash of cutting-edge NVIDIA GPU miners. This acquisition is expected to allow HUT to efficiently mine and hold bitcoin.

HUT’s revenue for the fiscal third quarter ended September 30, 2021, increased 774.7% year-over-year to CAD50.34 million ($39.42 million). The company’s mining profit came in at CAD33.50 million ($26.24 million), compared to a CAD2.27 million ($1.78 million) loss in the year-ago period. Also, its EPS came in at CAD0.15, compared to a loss per share of 0.01 in the prior-year period.

Analysts expect HUT’s EPS for its fiscal 2022 to increase 229.1% year-over-year to $0.99. Its revenue for its fiscal 2021 is expected to grow 340% year-over-year to $141.94 million. The stock has gained 328.3% so far this year to close yesterday’s trading session at $11.78.

Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF)

BITF is a self-mining company based in Toronto, Canada, which runs vertically integrated mining operations with onsite technical repair, proprietary data analytics, and company-owned electrical engineering and installation services to deliver high operational performance and uptime. It operates in the cryptocurrency mining segment (Backbone) and the electrical services segment (Volta).

On November 11, 2021, BITF announced that it had acquired a 24-megawatt hydropower farm in Washington, where it plans to house approximately 6,200 Bitmain S19j Pro miners, capable of 620 petahash/second. The Chief Mining Officer of BITF, Ben Gagnon, said, “The facility’s hydropower is expected to cost approximately 25% less than the average cost of power at our Québec farms, making it the most cost-effective source of power currently in our portfolio and reducing our corporate-wide average to below 4 US cents/kWh.”

For its  fiscal third quarter, ended September 30, 2021, BITF’s revenues increased 559% year-over-year to $44.77 million. The company’s net income came in at $23.73 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021, compared to a loss of $4.76 million in the year-ago period. Its adjusted EBITDA increased 8,628.5% year-over-year to $31.85 million.

BITF’s revenues for its fiscal 2021 are expected to increase 396.8% year-over-year to $172.40 million. Its EPS for its fiscal year 2022 is expected to increase 66.6% year-over-year to $0.40. The stock has gained 300% in price year-to-date to close yesterday’s trading session at $7.60.

Click here  to check out our Cryptocurrency Industry Report for 2021

MARA shares were trading at $47.87 per share on Thursday afternoon, down $2.92 (-5.75%). Year-to-date, MARA has gained 358.52%, versus a 23.54% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

About the Author: Dipanjan Banchur

Since he was in grade school, Dipanjan was interested in the stock market. This led to him obtaining a master’s degree in Finance and Accounting. Currently, as an investment analyst and financial journalist, Dipanjan has a strong interest in reading and analyzing emerging trends in financial markets. More...

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