Shares of Riot Platforms (RIOT) are down at the time of writing after the Bitcoin (BTC-USD) miner provided a production update. Interestingly, October Bitcoin production increased 10% year-over-year to 505 BTC. This is despite the company, along with the broader industry, likely still feeling the impact of the April Halving (an event that reduced the reward for mining Bitcoin). In addition, production increased 23% month-over-month.
This month’s solid results were driven by growth in the firm’s deployed hash rate and its efforts to improve operational efficiency. Indeed, the deployed hash rate increased to 29.4 EH/s due to new generation MicroBT miners at the Corsicana Facility. In addition, the firm saw a 234% year-over-year increase in its average hash rate (the number of calculations a miner can perform per second) to 22.7 EH/s.
RIOT Increases BTC Holdings
Riot Platforms now holds 10,928 BTC worth roughly $747.5 million at the time of writing, or slightly more than a quarter of its $2.74 billion market cap. Interestingly, RIOT is trading at a price-to-book value of 1.13, according to TipRanks data, which suggests that the company is slightly overvalued since it is above one.
Although earnings are generally a better measure of value, RIOT’s profitability is volatile, and the firm derives most of its valuation from its Bitcoin holdings. Therefore, book value seems like a more appropriate measure.
Is RIOT a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on RIOT stock based on 10 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 40% decline in its share price over the past year, the average RIOT price target of $16.95 per share implies 153% upside potential.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
