Why TeraWulf Stock Got Rocked Today

Cryptocurrency mining company TeraWulf (NASDAQ: WULF) wasn't mining gains for its investors at the close of the stock trading week. Its shares lost more than 9% of their value in Friday's session, due almost entirely to a quarterly earnings report that disappointed the market. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) did relatively well that day, closing more or less at the level where it opened in the morning.

First-quarter flop

That earnings release was the first covering TeraWulf's 2025 performance, and hopefully for its shareholders, it won't be indicative of the rest of the year. Revenue fell to $34.4 million for the period from first quarter 2024's $42.4 million, as the number of its chosen crypto -- Bitcoin -- it mined fell to 372 from the year-ago tally of 1,051.

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Net loss deepened significantly, coming in at over $61 million ($0.16 per share) against the previous first quarter's less than $15 million.

Exacerbating those dynamics, TeraWulf didn't come close to meeting analyst estimates for key fundamentals. Pundits following the crypto miner's stock assumed the company would earn slightly more than $46 million on the top line, and book an adjusted net loss of merely $0.04 per share.

Extracting some serious disappointment

Understandably, TeraWulf management elected to look on the bright side in the earnings report. It quoted CFO Patrick Fleury as saying, "With $219.6 million in cash and Bitcoin holdings at quarter-end, we are well-capitalized to fund our near-term growth."

That was cold comfort to investors, who seemed to be caught off-guard by the deterioration in those leading fundamentals. Recent gains in cryptocurrencies -- like Bitcoin, as it happens -- aren't going to help miners like TeraWulf either. Crypto-curious investors these days are instead probably better off investing directly in coins or tokens, or in a spot crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF).

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Eric Volkman has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.