Core Scientific Positioned For Major Role In AI Hosting

According to CoinDesk, Core Scientific (CORZ) is poised to become a significant player in artificial intelligence (AI) hosting, as highlighted in a recent report by broker Canaccord. The report initiated coverage of the bitcoin miner with a buy rating and set a price target of $16. Early trading saw the shares rise by 1.4% to $12.15. A pivotal 12-year contract signed with hyperscaler CoreWeave in June is seen as a transformative deal for Core Scientific. Canaccord described it as the first major agreement by a bitcoin miner to offer high-performance compute (HPC) data center hosting capacity. Hyperscalers are large-scale data centers that provide substantial computing power. Canaccord analysts, led by Joseph Vafi, identified three key drivers for the stock: increasing revenue from AI hosting, improved cash flow, and the potential for additional site acquisitions. The price target includes approximately $12 attributed to the CoreWeave contract, $3 for the company's remaining power supply designated for AI hosting, and around $1 for the bitcoin-mining business. The report also noted that Core Scientific has potential upside from its mining operations. Despite repurposing nearly 500 megawatts (MW) for AI hosting, the company still retains about 230MW of power for bitcoin mining.