Core Scientific Top AI Pick in Bitcoin Miners Despite DeepSeek Dislocation: Bernstein

Bernstein remains bullish on Core Scientific (CORZ) even after the shares tumbled 30% earlier this week as Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek challenged the idea that bitcoin (BTC) miners had value as data center plays.

The slide means the stock is now available at a deep discount, the broker said in a research report Thursday.

Core Scientific is the “leader of the pack” of the AI-focused miners, the report said, with 1.3 gigawatt (GW) of available power supply and a 12-year AI deal with CoreWeave.

“Bitcoin miners have a 12-18 month finite window to build a hybrid data center business, while the hyperscaler capex remains consistent,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.

Bernstein said Core Scientific is on track to deliver on its first cluster of data centers in the first half of the year, and the company continues to buy and develop new power sites.

The stock now trades closer to bitcoin mining valuations rather than data center valuations, “despite 70% of its capacity allocated to AI,” according to the report.

Bernstein has an outperform rating on Core Scientific’s shares with a $17 price target.

The stock was 3.8% higher at $11.90 in early trading.