TLDR
- Canaan (CAN) stock fell about 19% after Q3 revenue dropped 90% to $14.5 million.
- Net income hit $8 million, but only because of crypto and derivatives gains.
- Operating loss widened to $42.9 million from $23.9 million a year ago.
- Mining gross margin rose to nearly 30%, and inventory fell to $119 million.
- A $20 million buyback was announced, and two 1 GW Texas projects are moving forward.
Canaan (CAN) stock dropped 19.11% on Tuesday after the company posted a sharp fall in third-quarter revenue. The stock edged up 2.15% in the next session. Investors had a lot to chew on.
Revenue came in at $14.5 million, down 90% from $150.5 million a year earlier. The result landed inside the company’s own guidance range.
The hardware business took the biggest hit. Mining equipment sales fell 96% to $4.8 million from $118.6 million.
Canaan sold 1 million TH/s of computing power in the quarter. Last year it moved more than 10 EH/s of machines.
The company blamed lower volume and weaker selling prices. Demand for mining gear stayed soft.
A Profit That Isn’t From Mining
Canaan still reported net income of $8 million. A year ago it lost $27.7 million.
The swing came from non-cash items. A $20.1 million fair-value gain on crypto holdings helped, and so did $31.9 million from financial derivatives.
Chief Financial Officer Jin “James” Cheng pointed to bitcoin’s higher price at the end of September. He said the non-cash gain is “distinct from underlying operating performance.”
The operating numbers tell a tougher story. The operating loss grew to $42.9 million from $23.9 million.
Management also said higher bitcoin prices have not brought in new equipment orders. It does not expect a meaningful demand recovery.
Rising wafer costs are another problem. Demand from AI is making next-generation machines harder to build at a fair price.
There were a few brighter spots. Mining gross margin climbed to nearly 30% from about 20% in the second quarter.
Operating expenses fell 15.5% from the prior quarter to $34.2 million. Inventory dropped to $119 million, its lowest level in five quarters.
Canaan’s own mining arm mined 133 BTC in the quarter. That brought in $9.5 million, down from $30.6 million a year ago.
The company held about 1,875 BTC at the end of September. Of that, 1,258 BTC was pledged for secured loans.
Texas Power Plans and a Buyback
Earlier this year, Canaan bought Cipher Mining’s 49% stake in three West Texas mining projects for about $40 million. Their combined installed hashrate was 4.87 EH/s at the end of September.
ERCOT gave Canaan’s proposed 1 GW Duval County project a conditional “Studied Load – Firm” label. More studies and approvals are still pending.
A second 1 GW project in Zapata County is still in early development. Canaan says AI is also competing for power sites, which pushes electricity prices higher.
The board approved a $100 million buyback authorization on Nov. 6. Canaan announced a first $20 million under that program with its results.
