Core Scientific lost 56% on Bitcoin mining but $80M in profit from its pivot to AI hosting
Core Scientific’s Q2 showed a stark split between declining self-mining and surging AI colocation. Self-mining generated $21.5 million of revenue against $33.7 million of cost of revenue, producing a $12.2 million gross loss and a negative 56% margin. By contrast, high-density colocation delivered $136.7 million of revenue and $80.0 million of gross profit, a 59% margin, and accounted for more gross profit than Core Scientific’s $70.0 million consolidated total. The mining margin is not a simple electricity breakeven measure because cost of revenue included power fees, depreciation, and other operating costs. Core Scientific is repurposing remaining mining sites for AI-related colocation as conditions allow. Management said mining is being used mainly to offset contractual power costs during the wind-down, and miners online fell nearly 30% from Q1, with self-mining down to two sites. The company had 395 MW of billing colocation capacity at quarter-end, rising to 437 MW by mid-July, far below its much larger contracted AI pipeline.
