Core Scientific Targets End to Hosted Mining by End-2026 as Self-Mining Revenue Falls to $12.3 Million
Key Facts
Core Scientific expects to end hosted mining operations by December 31, 2026, as it continues to scale back self-mining in its shift toward data center hosting, according to the company’s third-quarter 2026 filing. The announcement came as the gap widened between mining and co-location hosting in the company’s results. Co-location revenue reached $215.4 million for the quarter, compared with $15.0 million in the same period of 2025. The company attributed the increase to delivering additional billable capacity to its customer. By contrast, self-mining revenue fell to $12.3 million from $57.4 million a year earlier, while hosted-mining revenue declined to $5.2 million from $8.7 million.
Self-mining performance reflected declines in both production and price during the third quarter. The amount of bitcoin mined fell 66% year over year, while the average bitcoin price declined 38% during the period, according to the company’s report. This coincided with a reduction in operating capacity; the company said on its earnings call that the number of active mining machines at the end of September was about 50% below its level at the end of 2025. For the first nine months of 2026, self-mining’s share of total revenue fell to 12%, compared with 78% in the same period a year earlier. By contrast, co-location’s share rose to 84% of revenue in the nine-month period, from 14% a year earlier.
Hosting growth came alongside a major expansion in contracted capacity, but billable capacity remains below the total. As of September 30, 2026, Core Scientific had contracted 1,120 megawatts of customer capacity and was billing for 485 megawatts of it. Hosting contracts run for 10 years or more, according to the company’s filing. However, co-location revenue is concentrated entirely in one customer, CoreWeave, tying the business to capacity delivery to that customer and the continuation of the commercial relationship. In July 2026, the company announced a strategic commercial relationship with AMD, based on a 15-year agreement for about 530 megawatts across five sites.
Operating indicators showed improved adjusted earnings alongside high capital investment. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $133.6 million in the third quarter, compared with $41.1 million in the second quarter and $6.5 million in the third quarter of 2025. The margin widened to 57% from 25% quarter over quarter. Net income was $1.1781 billion, after a loss of $144.0 million a year earlier; the company said the increase in net income was mainly due to a non-cash gain from a change in the fair value of warrants. Capital expenditures totaled $985.1 million during the quarter, while in the first quarter the company recorded non-cash impairment losses of $266.5 million on mining-related assets, citing deteriorating mining economics, including lower bitcoin prices and the value of mining equipment.
The transition requires substantial funding for existing purchase and construction projects. Expected future cash expenditures under those commitments totaled about $4.4 billion as of September 30, 2026, with most expected to be spent over 24 months. On the earnings call, management said it expected sequential double-digit growth in fourth-quarter revenue, as additional megawatts begin billing and the company benefits from a full quarter of revenue generated by earlier deliveries. In trading, CORZ shares closed at $12.76 on November 4, 2026, then at $11.38 on November 5. These expectations place upcoming revenue growth in the context of continued capacity deliveries to customers, while mining is scaled back alongside the execution of construction and investment commitments.