Core Scientific Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CORZ)

Key Points

• Call-option trading surged: Traders bought 143,273 CORZ call options on Friday, 127% above the typical daily volume.
• Core Scientific beat Q3 estimates: It reported earnings of $0.47 per share versus expectations for a $0.07 loss, and revenue of $232.87 million versus estimates of about $196.5 million.
• Analyst views remain broadly positive: Needham cut its price target from $35 to $28 but kept a Buy rating; the stock’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with a $30.54 target.

Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 143,273 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 127% compared to the typical daily volume of 62,978 call options.

Core Scientific News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Core Scientific reported Q3 2026 earnings of $0.47 per share, versus analysts’ expected loss, and revenue of $232.87 million, above estimates of about $196.5 million. Earnings also improved from a $0.46-per-share loss a year earlier. Zacks Q3 earnings article
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham cut its price target to $28 from $35 but kept a Buy rating. The reduced target is a cautionary signal, while the rating and stated upside from the quoted share price remain supportive. Needham analyst ratings
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Todd Duchene sold 10,000 shares for about $127,800, reducing his holdings by 0.88%. He still owned more than 1.1 million shares after the transaction, which may temper the significance of the sale. Insider sale report

Insider Buying and Selling at Core Scientific

In other news, insider Todd M. Duchene sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.78, for a total value of $127,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,123,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,355,595.08. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Weiss bought 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.33 per share, with a total value of $97,980.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 265,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,331,728.46. The trade was a 2.31% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 19,000 shares of company stock worth $342,290 and sold 100,000 shares worth $1,628,600. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Core Scientific

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CORZ. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Core Scientific during the second quarter valued at about $719,649,000. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Core Scientific in the second quarter worth about $115,671,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Core Scientific in the first quarter worth about $59,802,000. Avala Global LP purchased a new position in shares of Core Scientific in the second quarter worth approximately $101,729,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Core Scientific by 412.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,806,363 shares of the company's stock worth $71,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,868,535 shares in the last quarter.

Core Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CORZ traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.95. The company had a trading volume of 22,239,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,027,951. The firm's fifty day moving average is $15.80 and its 200 day moving average is $19.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of -2.68 and a beta of 5.56. Core Scientific has a twelve month low of $10.59 and a twelve month high of $30.46.

Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.54. The company had revenue of $232.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.54 million. Equities analysts predict that Core Scientific will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CORZ has been the topic of several research reports. Compass Point restated a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Core Scientific in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Core Scientific in a research report on Friday. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Core Scientific in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Core Scientific from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Core Scientific in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.54.

Core Scientific Company Profile

Core Scientific, Inc is a digital infrastructure company that develops and operates data centers for high-performance computing. The company has historically focused on bitcoin mining, using specialized computing equipment and supporting infrastructure to validate transactions on the Bitcoin network. It also provides hosting and infrastructure services for other digital asset miners.

Core Scientific is expanding its business toward hosting high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads.

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