Core Scientific's stock drops as AI partner CoreWeave faces Microsoft setback

Shares of Bitcoin miner Core Scientific are are trading lower Thursday as traders digest risk from the company's key partner.

AI hyperscale CoreWeave, a former crypto miner itself, has lost a few contractual commitments from Microsoft due to "delivery issues and missed deadlines," according to a report from Financial Times.

CoreWeave on Monday filed an S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, looking at a $35 billion valuation via an IPO. In that filing, CoreWeave said "any negative changes in demand from Microsoft, in Microsoft’s ability or willingness to perform under its contracts with us, in laws or regulations applicable to Microsoft or the regions in which it operates, or in our broader strategic relationship with Microsoft would adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition, and future prospects."

CoreWeave's deals with Microsoft represented 62% of total revenues in 2024, FT reports citing public disclosures. The tech giant will spend at least $10 billion on CoreWeave services by 2030 under five contracts between the companies.

Bitcoin's fourth halving last April cut miners' revenue in half, and most of these companies have tried to diversify their operations, moving toward hosting infrastructure for AI and high-performance compute (HPC) in addition to crypto mining.

CoreWeave secured a 12-year contract with Core Scientific last June, gaining access to 200 megawatts of power capacity to support its AI cloud growth. After expanding in October and February, the company’s total contracted HPC infrastructure with Core Scientific has increased, with projected revenue over the full term now reaching $10.2 billion.

Late Wednesday, Core Scientific said it mined 215 BTC in the month of February, down from 256 BTC in January. Its hashrate also dipped slightly from 18.5 EH/s to 18.4 EH/s. By using an average Bitcoin price of $95,851, the company estimated revenue for February was $20.6 million, down about $5 million from January. It should be noted that there were also three fewer days in the month of February.

Core Scientific's stock was down more than 13% to $8.34 per share at publication time. The company has a market cap of $2.8 billion, according to The Block's CORZ price data.