Core Scientific Stock Surges 33.7% On CoreWeave Acquisition Talks

CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure company, is in negotiations to acquire Core Scientific, a Bitcoin miner that has transitioned into a compute host. This development follows an earlier attempt by CoreWeave to acquire Core Scientific for $5.75 per share in June 2024, which was withdrawn after Core Scientific’s board deemed the price inadequate. Neither company has issued a public statement regarding the current negotiations.

Core Scientific’s stock has surged by 33.7% following the news, reaching $16.44 per share. This rally comes after a year-to-date slide of about 15%, which left the miner trading well below the all-time high it set after emerging from bankruptcy protection in January. CoreWeave, which went public in March with a $75 billion capitalization, lists Microsoft as its largest customer, accounting for 62% of 2024 revenue. The company rents Nvidia GPUs to corporate clients that include Meta Platforms and IBM.

Executives at Core Scientific had previously dismissed a $1 billion overture from CoreWeave as “unsolicited” and below intrinsic value. Instead, they signed 12-year hosting agreements that commit the miner to deliver 200 megawatts (MW) of power for CoreWeave’s high-performance-computing clusters. Board members stated at the time that the arrangement would generate approximately $3.5 billion in cumulative revenue and help diversify income away from block subsidies after the April 2024 Bitcoin halving.

Core Scientific already hosts 16 MW of CoreWeave GPUs at its Austin campus and plans staged expansions across several sites in Texas and Oklahoma. The parties aim to finalize terms within weeks if talks stay on track, although neither side has disclosed price parameters. Core Scientific’s rapid pivot toward AI infrastructure, combined with a power-constrained data-center market, could justify a premium well above the miner’s undisturbed value, according to bankers following the situation.

CoreWeave CEO Mike Intrator seeks to expand capacity to meet the cloud-AI demand that exceeds current inventory across hyperscale providers. Core Scientific controls about 724 megawatts of contracted power across its US footprint and ranks among North America’s top owners of immersion-cooled mining rigs. The miner’s ability to repurpose part of that load for GPU computing aligns with CoreWeave’s push to secure low-cost electricity and ready-built shells, avoiding multiyear greenfield construction.

If negotiations succeed, CoreWeave will absorb a fleet of Bitmain S21-class miners and a pipeline of brownfield sites that can flip to GPU racks. Core Scientific shareholders would receive cash or stock at a yet-to-be-determined ratio. This acquisition would significantly enhance CoreWeave’s capabilities in the high-performance computing sector, leveraging Core Scientific’s extensive power infrastructure and expertise in AI infrastructure.