Add "CORZ" to your local ticker list.
Austin-based Core Scientific Inc. debuted Jan. 20 on the Nasdaq following its merger with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.
Shares opened at $9.74 and traded as high as $10.48 early Jan. 20. They cooled a bit to close at $8.80, giving the cryptocurrency mining and blockchain technology company a market capitalization of about $414 million. To track the stock yourself, go here.
Core Scientific's SPAC deal was expected to generate about $190 million in net cash proceeds for the company, which plans to use the money to buy more mining equipment, among other things.
Core Scientific said it is a net carbon neutral crypto mining company, and it's processing at a rapid pace using a fleet of about 67,000 mining devices. Earlier this month, the company reported that it mined 1,044 Bitcoin in December and 5,769 BTC in all of 2021. That would be worth roughly $246 million based on Jan. 20 pricing, although Bitcoin's price has varied widely in the past year, peaking at about $67,582 per coin in November but falling beneath $40,000 per coin this month.
“As one of the largest publicly traded blockchain infrastructure providers and digital asset miners in North America, we are focused on growing our capacity, defending and securing the blockchain ecosystem and building long-term shareholder value," Mike Levitt, Core Scientific’s co-chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Core Scientific launched in 2017, and it has data centers in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and North Dakota.
Last year, the company relocated its headquarters to Austin from the Seattle area. In securities filings earlier this month, the company disclosed it is in the process of acquiring recent Austin transplant Blockcap Inc. Blockcap, which is one of its largest hosting customers, previously purchased Radar Relay Inc., a digital asset tech company, for an estimated $65 million, according to securities filings.
Core Scientific said its revenue for the nine months that ended Sept. 30 was $242.7 million. It reported a net loss of $13.2 million for the same period. As of late September, the company had 118 full-time employees in the U.S. It wasn't clear how many are based in Austin. Core Scientific is led by CEO Michael Levitt.
When disclosing potential risks to investors, Core Scientific noted its revenue "comes from a small number of customers, and the loss of, or significant decrease in business from" those customers could harm its financial picture. It is also subject to the whims of demand for crypto and blockchain tech, although more and more businesses seem to be adopting such digital tools for a wide variety of tasks.
The company also noted concerns about cypto's carbon footprint could harm the company. Core Scientific said in the same presentation an estimated 56% of the power it used in 2021 came from carbon-free sources such as hydro, wind, solar and nuclear. It said it reached 100% net carbon neutrality with the purchase of Green-e energy certificates.
Core Scientific adds to the list of Austin-area public companies, which has grown significantly in the past year. Additions in 2021 included Lottery.com, Disco and F45. Core Scientific appears to be the first crypto or blockchain public company based in the region.
For a June 2021 list of public companies in the Austin area, go here.
