Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Upgraded to Buy as HPC Momentum Builds: B. Riley

Core Scientific and Market Analysis - Investment bank B. Riley upgraded Core Scientific (CORZ) to buy from neutral, raising its price target to $30 from $17, citing strong standalone value and renewed momentum in high-performance computing (HPC) [1] - Analysts expect shareholders to reject Core Scientific's proposed merger with CoreWeave (CRWV), noting that the stock has lagged peers despite being an early mover in HPC [1] TeraWulf and Sector Performance - B. Riley's top pick remains TeraWulf (WULF), with its price target raised to $22 from $14, supported by over 400 MW in customer agreements and approximately $4 billion in capital commitments [2] - The analysts raised price targets for HPC names by an average of 78% and increased 2026 estimates by 5%, driven by soaring demand for power and data center capacity related to AI [2] Riot Platforms and Other Stocks - The price target for Riot Platforms (RIOT) was lifted to $28 from $16, with a buy rating reiterated [3] - IREN's price objective was raised to $74 from $29, while Bitdeer's target increased to $32 from $17, and Bitfarms' target rose to $7 from $3, all maintaining buy ratings [3] - The group of stocks has rebounded 418% since April, with recent pullbacks of around 15% providing re-entry points [3] Market Reaction - Crypto-related stocks, particularly bitcoin miners transitioning to AI infrastructure, experienced significant losses, with Core Scientific shares down 10% and TeraWulf, Riot, IREN, and Bitdeer falling 8-9% [4] - Bitfarms was the worst performer, down 15% at the time of publication [4]