Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Key Points

• Core Scientific shares gapped down after Q1 results: EPS of ($1.06) missed the ($0.02) estimate by $1.04, while revenue of $115.24M was up 44.9% YoY but slightly below forecasts, prompting heavy trading volume.
• The company is rapidly pivoting into AI/HPC colocation, announcing the ~$421M Polaris DS acquisition, plans to scale Muskogee to ~1.5 GW, and a roughly $3.3B capital raise to fund the expansion—supporting long‑term growth but raising dilution and execution risk.
• Market sentiment is mixed-to-positive: analysts’ consensus is a $25.43 price target with mostly Buy ratings, yet recent insider selling and unusual options activity increase near‑term volatility.

Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $24.63, but opened at $22.45. Core Scientific shares last traded at $21.1970, with a volume of 7,699,996 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($1.04). The firm had revenue of $115.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $117.04 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 44.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS.

Core Scientific News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Core Scientific this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Announced acquisition of Polaris DS (~$421M) and plan to scale the Muskogee, OK campus to ~1.5 GW of gross power — materially increases contracted power and accelerates capacity available for AI/HPC colocation customers. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Announced a large capital raise (~$3.3B) to fund AI colocation expansion — provides runway to execute the Muskogee scale‑up (terms will determine dilution/near‑term impact). Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / price‑target lifts: Needham raised its target to $29 and initiated/maintained a Buy — supports bullish sentiment and likely contributed to buying interest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 revenue grew ~45% YoY to $115.2M but narrowly missed consensus (~$117M) — strong top‑line growth supports the scale story even as near‑term profitability is impacted by buildout and financing. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call‑option buying ahead of/around the announcements — amplifies upside moves but also increases volatility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 earnings call transcript and presentation released — useful for details on timelines, contract backlog and capital plan; investors should review management’s delivery and timing commentary. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 EPS missed badly — reported a larger-than-expected loss (widely reported as ($1.06) vs est. (~$0.02)), which pressured shares after the print and highlights near‑term margin/interest/one‑time impacts. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Todd M. Duchene sold 10,000 shares (small vs. his holdings) — often read negatively by markets even if economically modest. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on shares of Core Scientific from $24.50 to $23.75 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Core Scientific from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Core Scientific from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Core Scientific to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Core Scientific in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Core Scientific currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.43.

Insider Activity at Core Scientific

In related news, insider Todd M. Duchene sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.86, for a total transaction of $208,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,980,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,310,059.28. This represents a 0.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,000 shares of company stock worth $933,400. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Core Scientific

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Core Scientific by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,960,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $494,462,000 after buying an additional 5,359,710 shares in the last quarter. Situational Awareness LP lifted its stake in Core Scientific by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 28,756,478 shares of the company's stock worth $418,694,000 after purchasing an additional 8,575,944 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Core Scientific by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 13,038,619 shares of the company's stock worth $189,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338,796 shares in the last quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Core Scientific in the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,786,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Core Scientific by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,651,002 shares of the company's stock worth $111,417,000 after purchasing an additional 109,145 shares in the last quarter.

Core Scientific Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95 and a beta of 5.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $17.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.47.

About Core Scientific

Core Scientific, Inc NASDAQ: CORZ is a leading provider of large-scale blockchain infrastructure and digital asset mining services. The company develops, owns and operates high-performance data centers optimized for the mining of Bitcoin and other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. In addition to its core mining operations, Core Scientific offers colocation, hosting and managed services designed to support institutional clients and enterprise users in deploying and scaling blockchain nodes and computing hardware.

Core Scientific's service portfolio includes hardware procurement, deployment and maintenance, real-time monitoring, power management and network connectivity.

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