Benzinga - by Surbhi Jain, .
Bitcoin surpassed the $45,000 on Jan. 1, a level it last reached in April 2022. The surge in Bitcoin price and optimism around the cryptocurrency has been driving Bitcoin-plays such as Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) in pre-market trading.
MARA stock was up about 13% and RIOT about 9% at 8 AM ET on Jan. 2.
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Marathon Digital’s stock registered price gains of 590% in 2023, driven by its solid positioning in the mining space that helped it capture the upside move in the underlying commodity. As of Nov. 30, Marathon held 14,025 unrestricted bitcoin.
The company produced 37.9 Bitcoin per day in the third quarter of 2023. It sold 66% of the Bitcoin it produced in the quarter to fund operating costs.
“We grew our energized hash rate 8% quarter-over-quarter to 19.1 exahashes. In addition, our new facility in Garden City started energizing last week and is expected to be fully operational later this month,” said Fred Thiel, chairman and CEO of Marathon Digital, in November.
Thiel expects to grow Marathon’s hash rate by approximately 30% in 2024.
Riot Platforms’ stock registered about 360% gains in 2023, fueled by strong fundamentals. It has massive capacity growth still to come, and its margins are best-in-class. Riot has no long-term debt and a robust treasury, which helps the company's stock deliver outsized gains during a rally. Riot held 7,358 bitcoin as of the end of November.
Per the chart above, MARA and RIOT moved in close correlation for most of 2023. But the performance diverged toward the last month, where MARA far exceeded RIOT. Those interested in Bitcoin plays would like to know which of these stocks offers more value currently.
Analyst ratings for MARA and RIOT. Data, courtesy of Yahoo! Finance
Per analyst ratings, Riot Platforms’ stock appears to offer 15% upside from current trading price.
Marathon Digital’s stock is overvalued by 45%.
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