Shares of crypto mining firms IREN and CleanSpark tumbled Thursday as both companies reported earnings that missed Wall Street expectations, while a sharp drop in Bitcoin prompted risk-off trading.
Bitcoin slid 12% over the past 24 hours, briefly dipping to $60,000 early Friday, with the overall crypto market capitalization declining nearly 9%, according to CoinMarketCap.
CleanSpark (CLSK) led the sell-off, closing Thursday down 19.13% and falling an additional 8.6% in after-hours trading to $7.55, following weaker-than-expected results for the quarter ending Dec. 31.
CleanSpark reported revenues of $181.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, missing analyst expectations of $186.66 million by roughly 2.9%.
Analysts at Zacks noted that reduced mining rewards following the Bitcoin halving in April 2024 likely contributed to “lower mining efficiency” and “constrained profit” during the period. The company posted a net loss of $378.7 million, a steep decline from the $246.8 million net profit it reported in the same quarter of 2024.
CleanSpark’s CFO and President, Gary Vecchiarelli, highlighted the company’s shift beyond Bitcoin mining, saying it is “no longer a single-track business” as it seeks to leverage artificial intelligence to drive long-term profits. “Bitcoin mining generates the cash flow, AI infrastructure monetizes the assets over the long term, and our Digital Asset Management function optimizes capital and liquidity across cycles,” Vecchiarelli explained.
IREN Ltd., which has transitioned its focus from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure, also fell short of earnings expectations. Its shares closed Thursday down 11.46% and dropped another 18.5% in after-hours trading to $32.42. IREN reported revenues of $184.69 million for the quarter, missing Wall Street forecasts by 16.49%, and posted a net loss of $155.4 million compared to a net income of $384.6 million in the year-ago period.
Other major crypto mining stocks also suffered sharp declines Thursday, with RIOT Platforms (RIOT) down 14.71% and MARA Holding (MARA) falling 18.72%, according to Google Finance.
With Bitcoin down 29% over the past 30 days, market sentiment has slumped to levels not seen in months. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 9 out of 100 on Friday, marking its lowest reading since the Terra collapse in mid-2022.
