CORZ: AI Data Center Power Expansion Is Expected To Drive Upside

Analysts have lifted the Core Scientific price target to about $36.26 from $35.84, citing strong AI data center demand, expanded approved power capacity and improving high performance compute economics as key drivers of their updated assumptions.

Analyst Commentary

Recent research points to a broadly positive tone around Core Scientific, with several bullish analysts lifting price targets and highlighting AI related opportunities as key drivers in their models. Across the board, commentary focuses on power capacity growth, the shift toward high performance compute and the company’s ability to secure leases with what are described as strong counterparties.

Some institutions have also refined targets slightly lower, but still maintain positive ratings and emphasize ongoing AI infrastructure buildout, power pipeline expansion and additional leasing as the main variables they are watching. Overall, the current research set frames Core Scientific as an AI hosting and data center story that is still in the middle of its transition away from a heavier reliance on Bitcoin mining.

Bullish Takeaways

Multiple bullish analysts have raised price targets into the low to high US$30s, tying their views to strong AI data center demand, power availability as a key constraint and confidence in the company’s ability to execute on new capacity.
Research highlights 1.2 GW of approved power capacity added this year, which bullish analysts view as a foundation for incremental high performance compute contracts and potential value creation if that capacity is effectively leased.
Several reports praise the pivot away from a heavier focus on Bitcoin mining toward AI hosting, with one highlighting CoreWeave leases as having favorable economics compared with peers, which feeds directly into earnings and valuation models.
Upgrades and Buy ratings are often framed around attractive valuation, progress on new site acquisitions and expectations that the power portfolio ultimately transitions further toward AI hosting, all of which are presented as core elements in the long term growth story.

What's in the News

Core Scientific outlined a multi-tier expansion plan for its Muskogee, Oklahoma campus, targeting approximately 1.5 gigawatt of gross power and about 1.0 gigawatt of leasable power. The plan is supported by roughly 250 acres of land and a scalable behind-the-meter solution, with grid load studies expected to conclude this year (company event filing).
The company reported impairment charges on property, plant and equipment of $266,488,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, and $11,359,000 for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2025. Investors may want to factor these charges into any assessment of asset values and recent financial results (company event filing).
Core Scientific and the Cadillac Formula 1 Team entered a multi-year partnership that names Core Scientific as Official Data Center Partner. Responsibilities include designing and optimizing a high-density data center environment for the team’s new U.S. headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, ahead of the 2026 season (company event filing).
Chairman Jordan Levy informed the board that he will not stand for re-election at the 2026 Annual Meeting. The company stated that his decision is personal and not related to any disagreement with the company (company event filing).
A stalled U.S. crypto bill, the Clarity Act, has drawn attention across the digital asset sector. Core Scientific is mentioned among publicly traded cryptocurrency related companies that could be affected by evolving U.S. regulation (Reuters).

Valuation Changes

Fair Value: updated slightly higher from $35.84 to $36.26 per share, reflecting a small upward adjustment in modeled assumptions.
Discount Rate: revised up modestly from 8.96% to 9.25%, which generally implies a slightly higher required return for the stock.
Revenue Growth: updated lower from 87.09% to 72.07%, suggesting more conservative expectations for future revenue expansion.
Net Profit Margin: raised from 47.28% to 84.69%, indicating higher modeled earnings relative to revenue in the latest assumptions.
Future P/E: moved down from 17.55x to 11.06x, pointing to a lower earnings multiple being used in current valuation work.

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Key Takeaways

Core Scientific leverages low-risk, capital-light contracts and first-mover advantages to achieve outsized margins and rapid, recurring revenue growth in AI datacenter markets.
Strategic power partnerships and a hybrid business model ensure persistent cost advantages, sustainability, and diversified earnings from both digital asset and compute market expansion.
Heavy reliance on a single customer and ongoing transition risks expose the company to earnings volatility, overcapacity, and operational challenges amid evolving regulatory and market dynamics.

Catalysts

About Core Scientific

Provides digital asset mining services in the United States.What are the underlying business or industry changes driving this perspective?

Analysts broadly agree the CoreWeave contract will drive substantial revenue, but this view likely understates its impact: with CoreWeave funding nearly all CapEx, Core Scientific faces exceptionally low risk and could scale EBITDA and free cash flow far beyond datacenter industry norms due to minimal capital needs and stable, take-or-pay fixed payments across a 12-year term.
Analyst consensus expects gradual customer diversification to reduce revenue concentration, but the accelerating pipeline of hyperscale and large enterprise deals-several already approaching 50-100 megawatts-suggests Core Scientific could rapidly outpace projections, creating recurring, higher-margin revenue streams that materially lift gross and net margins well ahead of schedule.
The ongoing, industry-wide shift toward power-intensive AI workloads, combined with Core Scientific's first-mover advantage and purpose-built, high-density data centers, positions the company to dominate this exponentially growing segment-driving long-term topline growth and enabling premium pricing versus legacy operators.
Core Scientific's long-standing partnerships with utilities and proactive expansion into regions with abundant renewable energy provide strategic access to lower-cost, greener power, resulting in persistent cost advantages, margin expansion, and resilience against regulatory and supply chain shocks.
Amid accelerating institutional adoption of Bitcoin, rising network difficulty favors scale players; Core Scientific's hybrid model enables it to both capitalize on hosting demand and expand self-mining, magnifying future earnings growth and ensuring diversified upside as both digital asset and compute markets mature.

Core Scientific Earnings and Revenue Growth

Core Scientific Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

How have these above catalysts been quantified?

This narrative explores a more optimistic perspective on Core Scientific compared to the consensus, based on a Fair Value that aligns with the bullish cohort of analysts.
The bullish analysts are assuming Core Scientific's revenue will grow by 72.1% annually over the next 3 years.
The bullish analysts assume that profit margins will increase from -302.2% today to 84.7% in 3 years time.
The bullish analysts expect earnings to reach $1.5 billion (and earnings per share of $4.8) by about May 2029, up from -$1.1 billion today. However, there is some disagreement amongst the analysts with the more bearish ones expecting earnings as low as $-10.7 million.
In order for the above numbers to justify the price target of the more bullish analyst cohort, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 11.1x on those 2029 earnings, up from -7.2x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the US Software industry at 28.3x.
The bullish analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 4.09% per year for the next 3 years.
To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 9.25%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Risks

What could happen that would invalidate this narrative?

High concentration of revenue with CoreWeave, the company's foundational customer, means that any downturn or contractual change with CoreWeave-such as non-renewal, payment disputes, or shifts in demand-could significantly affect both revenue stability and earnings.
The company's legacy bitcoin mining business continues to account for a portion of its financial exposure, and ongoing declines in bitcoin production and revenues associated with the transition to datacenter colocation could introduce earnings volatility and affect profitability during the multi-year transition.
Aggressive growth plans into high-density AI colocation are subject to potential overcapacity or rapid changes in AI infrastructure trends, increasing the risk that sustained customer demand does not materialize as forecasted, which could suppress future revenue and result in underutilized assets.
Capital intensity and the need for ongoing site and technology upgrades create long-term risks around maintaining operational efficiency and competitive cost structures; any underinvestment due to liquidity constraints or rising costs could cause declining net margins relative to better-capitalized competitors.
Potential regulatory and sustainability pressures around datacenter energy usage-especially with new environmental legislation or electricity price shocks-could increase operating expenses or slow project approvals, negatively impacting margins and constraining revenue growth.

Valuation

How have all the factors above been brought together to estimate a fair value?

The assumed bullish price target for Core Scientific is $36.26, which represents up to two standard deviations above the consensus price target of $29.77. This valuation is based on what can be assumed as the expectations of Core Scientific's future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors from analysts on the bullish end of the spectrum.
However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of $37.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just $25.0.
In order for you to agree with the more bullish analyst cohort, you'd need to believe that by 2029, revenues will be $1.8 billion, earnings will come to $1.5 billion, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 11.1x, assuming you use a discount rate of 9.3%.
Given the current share price of $24.21, the analyst price target of $36.26 is 33.2% higher.
We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.

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Disclaimer

AnalystHighTarget is a tool utilizing a Large Language Model (LLM) that ingests data on consensus price targets, forecasted revenue and earnings figures, as well as the transcripts of earnings calls to produce qualitative analysis. The narratives produced by AnalystHighTarget are general in nature and are based solely on analyst data and publicly-available material published by the respective companies. These scenarios are not indicative of the company's future performance and are exploratory in nature. Simply Wall St has no position in the company(s) mentioned. Simply Wall St may provide the securities issuer or related entities with website advertising services for a fee, on an arm's length basis. These relationships have no impact on the way we conduct our business, the content we host, or how our content is served to users. The price targets and estimates used are consensus data, and do not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and they do not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Note that AnalystHighTarget's analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

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