Intchains Group - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to Intchains first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Joining us today are Mr. Chaowei Yan, Chief Financial Officer of Intchains, and Ms. Minty Wang, Director of Investor Relations. Mr. Yan will provide an overview of the company's performance and financial results. Following his remarks, we will open the floor for a question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call over to Minty Wang. Please go ahead.

Minty Wang (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Operator. Good day, everyone. I'm Minty. Welcome to Intchains Group Chaowei Yan's first quarter 2025 earnings call. On today's call, Mr. Chaowei Yan, our CFO, will present a comprehensive overview of the company's performance and financial results for the quarter. Before we begin, please note that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and are based on the company's current expectations and projections regarding future events that could affect its financial condition, operating results, and strategic direction. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events and changes in expectations, except as required by law. Although the company believes these expectations are reasonable, there is no guarantee they'll prove to be accurate. Actual results may differ materially from what is anticipated.

Investors should refer to our registration statements and other filings with the SEC for additional factors that may affect future performance. We'll also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP figures in our earnings press release. The presentation and a replay of this call will be available on our website at ir.intchains.com. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mr. Chaowei Yan. Please go ahead.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Thank you, Minty. Thank you all for joining Intchains' first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Today, I will provide an overview of our operational and financial performance, followed by a Q&A session. We are pleased to report solid operational performance despite a challenging macroeconomic environment and significant volatility in crypto markets, particularly an 18% decline in the total market cap of cryptocurrency during the quarter. Our revenue reached $18.2 million, a 78.5% quarter-over-quarter increase, and our highest since 2023. In our previous earnings call, we guided Q1 2025 revenue to be between $15 million and $16 million. Our results exceeded the upper end of that range. Gross margin grew by 286.9%, with gross margin improving to 56.9%, up from 26.2% last quarter. This reflects our continued focus on product optimization and operational efficiency.

Our operating income turned positive at $5.1 million, a strong recovery from the loss in Q4 2024, while net income was impacted by non-cash revaluation loss on Ethereum. We remain committed to our Ether accumulation strategy, increasing our holding by over 23% to $7,023. This long-term approach remains central to our value creation strategy. For context, our business operates across three core segments. Firstly, we produce home miners for high-potential altcoins such as Aleo and Doge under the GoldShield brand. Secondly, we reinvest profits to accumulate Ether, optimizing our asset structure. Last but not the least, we actively explore Web3 innovations to drive long-term growth. As a pioneer in home mining products and a long-term Ether holder, we occupy a unique position in the U.S. capital market.

Our differentiated strategy focuses on Blue Ocean altcoin mining sector, enabling us to maintain gross margins higher than industry average for Bitcoin miners, regardless of market cycles. This strategic focus has allowed us to achieve accumulative net profits from 2019 to 2024 that outperformed our peers, making us one of the few consistently profitable mining companies. In early 2025, we further solidified our leadership in altcoin mining machines. Since launching the Aleo series miners in February, we have released five iterations, strengthening our market position. According to a third-party miner evaluation website, our AEMAX miner currently ranks fifth in daily profitability among all the mining machines, outperforming most of Bitcoin miners. In March, we launched the GoldShield Bite, an innovative DAO mining machine that supports Aleo, Dogecoin, and Litecoin. With cost-swappable mining cards, users can switch between cryptocurrencies based on market conditions to maximize returns.

This product showcases our technical strength through developing advanced altcoin mining machines. Looking ahead, we plan to continue refining our Dogecoin miners through chip upgrades and enhanced product design, aiming to become the top-tier player in Dogecoin mining equipment. Now, let's review our financial results for the third quarter of 2025. During Q1, the price of Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Aleo fell by 46%, 49%, and 75%, respectively. However, price has shown signs for recovery in Q2. Despite these headwinds, we delivered strong results. Revenue for Q1 was $18.2 million, exceeding the high end of our guidance and making our highest quarterly revenue since 2023. This performance was largely driven by the successful launch of our Aleo series miners, which accounted for nearly 75% of our total revenue. The product's strong margin and timely launch helped us respond quickly to market demand.

Revenue increased 78% quarter over quarter, significantly outperforming industry peers. Cost of revenue rose modestly, from $7.5 million in Q4 to $7.9 million in Q1, growing at a much slower pace than revenue due to the high margins of Aleo miners. Operating income turned positive at $5.1 million, driven by top-line growth and reduced R&D expenses as several early-stage projects concluded. Among crypto mining companies, we are one of the few to report positive operating income in Q1 2025. Net income was $-4.7 million, compared to our profits in the previous quarter, primarily due to the $9.8 million non-cash loss from revaluation of our cryptocurrency holdings, mainly due to the Ethereum price drop of 46%. Despite the downturn, we maintained a steady pace of Ethereum accumulation. As of March 31, 2025, we held approximately 7,023 units of ETH, up 23.2% quarter over quarter.

Non-cash net income was $-4.4 million, also declined from the previous quarter. As of March 31, 2025, our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaled $74.9 million, up from year-end 2024. Thanks to positive operating income, our USDC and cryptocurrency holdings other than Ethereum amounted to $16.1 million, including Ethereum amounted to $16.1 million. As of May 21, 2025, our total assets represented 100.7% of our market capitalization. Looking forward, several catalysts could drive long-term upside in 2025. First is anticipated interest rate cuts, potentially improving liquidity conditions. Second is broader regulatory support for crypto-linked ETFs beyond Bitcoin. Third is new blockchain applications in payments and AI agents. Fourth is continued advancement in zero-knowledge proofs and Ethereum protocol upgrades. Finally, the passage of new HashShare Bitcoin reserve bills, the first at the U.S. state level, may encourage similar moves elsewhere.

Ethereum has also gone through significant updates, including the HashShare upgrades completed in May, anticipated the Layer 1 scaling, and new leadership at the Ethereum Foundation. We remain confident in Ethereum's future and the broader blockchain ecosystem and will continue to our long-term Ether accumulation strategy. Looking ahead, we are optimistic about sustaining momentum into Q2 and beyond. Market sentiment is improving, and our rapid product iteration, especially in AE and Doge series, positions us well for future growth. However, taking into account tariffs and the crypto market volatility, we project the first quarter, the first half of 2025 revenue of approximately RMB 180 million-RMB 200 million. In conclusion, we remain focused on innovation, disciplined execution, and long-term value creation. As we navigate the evolving crypto and Web3 landscape, our strategy is anchored in technological leadership, operational excellence, and proven capital management. Thank you for your attention.

We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress as we continue to grow across crypto market cycles.

Minty Wang (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Minty Wang. We are now beginning the question and answer session. You are welcome to ask questions in either Chinese or English. For convenience, English translations will be provided when needed. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original language used by the management. Operator, please begin the Q&A session. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. To ask a question now, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. A moment for our first question. We will now take our first question from the line of Mark Palmer from The Benchmark Company. Please go ahead, Mark.

Mark Palmer (Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Yes. Thank you for taking my question, and congratulations on the strong operating performance during what was a challenging quarter in the cryptocurrency industry. With regard to the mix of the company's revenue going forward, insofar as about 75% of revenue was derived from Aleo chips and miners during the first quarter, and at the same time, the company continues to develop new iterations of Dogecoin miners, how should we think about the mix of the company's mining rigs in the second quarter and perhaps during the balance of the year?

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Yeah. Thank you for the question, Mark. Yeah. Firstly, we are very optimistic about Dogecoin's future development, and we'll upgrade our Dogecoin miner progress continuously. We aim to become the top-tier supplier of Dogecoin miners in this industry. We will also identify promising innovative projects in the future, not only Aleo miners. We also hope to lead the market launching of corresponding miners. This is similar to how we launched the Aleo series miners in Q1. Creating substantial returns for miners and contributing to project ecosystems, all while earning our share of the reward. In conclusion, our future revenue will come from Dogecoin miners, Aleo miners, and new miners, maybe launched in the second or third quarter. Yeah. Thank you.

Mark Palmer (Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. One other question. Just wanted to touch base on GoldShield Bite, the new dual miner that you introduced in March. Could you talk a bit about the potential of that miner in terms of revenue generation and how we should think about the timing of that rollout?

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Yeah. Yes. So GoldShield Bite, yeah, in March 2025, our company launched GoldShield Bite, and this product currently supports mining of cryptocurrencies such as Aleo and Dogecoin. In the future, it may be with potential compatibility for more projects in the future through the swappable mining cards. The primary motivation behind this product was addressing a common pain point for individual miners. Every time they switch projects, they typically need to purchase entirely new machines, which also take up significant space at home. In response, we introduced this standardized miner with flexible mining cards, allowing the miners to easily switch cards based on the market conditions. From a company's perspective, this product helps us to standardize the hardware design while leveraging our technical expertise across multiple cryptocurrencies.

For the crypto industry, we hope this project will lower the barrier to enter the industry and encourage more people to participate in the crypto mining, ultimately contributing to the decentralized support for more blockchain projects.

Minty Wang (Director of Investor Relations)

Mark, in conclusion of our first and last questions, we think that for the first half of this year, most of our revenues were generated from the Aleo series miners. For the second half of this year, we think some revenues may come from the GoldShield Bite products, but it is kind of hard for us to give you a specific guidance. For the first half of this year, we think the Aleo series miners will still be very competitive in the market among all the POW machines. For the whole year, just as Charles stated, we may launch some new innovative miners in this quarter or maybe the next quarter.

We think regarding to the revenues of the whole year, we think our revenue will be comprised from the sales of the Aleo miners, innovative miners, and the Dogecoin miners. The percentage of these miners will depend on the market price of these miners. It is kind of hard for us to give you a precise percentage. Yeah.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Thank you.

Mark Palmer (Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you very much.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We will now take our next question from the line of Matthew Galinko from Maxim Group. Please ask your question, Matthew.

Matthew Galinko (SVP and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Hey. Thanks for taking my questions. Congratulations on the strong quarter. I noticed that inventories remain pretty high, down a little bit from the fourth quarter. I was curious if you could comment on what we could expect from the inventory through the balance of the year.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Yeah. In fact, most of our inventory are inventory for Dogecoin miners, and some of them are Aleo miners-related chief inventory. Now we gained some performance during this quarter, but in the future, we will adjust our price depending on the market conditions. What we can predict is we will try our best to sell this inventory to the market instead of to write off the inventory. It still depends on the market condition on the next quarter. Thank you.

Matthew Galinko (SVP and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Got it. Thank you. I guess as a follow-up question also on GoldShield Bite, can you talk about kind of where you're getting the feedback from the market that I guess consumers want that kind of all-in-one style device for providing their ability to mine multiple currencies? Is it direct feedback you're getting from existing customers? Is it kind of broad industry expectations? Talk a little bit about that feedback.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. GoldShield Bite was very welcomed by many individual miners. It is undoubtedly expanding our customer base because we received many feedback from new customers. All these will be a good entry for these new customers. Our market strategy is that we use home miners to attract new customers and use professional miners to maintain them. Because from a profit perspective, maybe the small miners like GoldShield Bite will not have a big return, but it will be a good entry for some new customers. This is our market strategy. I think the GoldShield Bite individually maybe will not have a big proportion of our total revenue stream. Eventually, the launch of this kind of product will broaden our customer base and will have a positive impact on our revenue. Thank you.

Minty Wang (Director of Investor Relations)

Still, the GoldShield Bite is kind of a profitable product for the individual miners.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Yeah.

Minty Wang (Director of Investor Relations)

Yeah. Because you can track the daily profits for our GoldShield Bite. If you use two Aleo mining cards, you may get about $25-$1 daily profits per day. You may get your cost back, I think, within 40-400 [crosstalk] days.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Yeah. Still 400.

Yeah. Yeah. Three to four hundred days. I think it's still more profitable for some Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies mining machines.

Yeah. For individual users, maybe they do not care about this return base. It is an interesting product. If they want a higher return, they will purchase our box miners or other miners instead. Yeah.

Minty Wang (Director of Investor Relations)

Yeah, just like the switch in the mining sector.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Yeah. Same principle and same approach. Yeah.

Matthew Galinko (SVP and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you.

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. We will now take our next question from the line of Teresa Lowe from Eastgate. All right. Teresa has left the call. Once again, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. We now have a follow-up question from the line of Matthew Galinko from Maxim Group. Please go ahead, Matthew.

Matthew Galinko (SVP and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Thanks for taking my follow-up question. I just wanted to ask about R&D spending this year. I think Q1 was down from Q4. But just given your, I think, plans to launch additional new products and the success of the Aleo miner, should we expect kind of a return to higher R&D spending at some point this year, or can you sort of level set up?

Chaowei Yan (CFO)

R&D expense. Yeah. Maybe we cannot predict this because last year and the first of this year, we launched three new projects recently. This year, currently, we have some projects in progress, but now we cannot actually predict when to do the wafer tape-out at this time. Yeah. Thank you.

Matthew Galinko (SVP and Senior Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Once again, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. I am not showing any further questions. With that, we conclude our conference call for today.