Core Scientific (CORZ) Q3 2026: colocation revenue up 58% in a quarter to $215M, 485 MW billing

$CORZ reported colocation revenue of $215.4M for the third quarter, up nearly 60% from $136.7M in the second quarter and from $15.0M a year ago. It was billing for 485 MW of capacity on September 30, which the company puts at over $700M of average annualized colocation revenue. Adjusted EBITDA more than tripled in a quarter to $133.6M. The $1.18B of net income is mostly a $1.03B non-cash gain on warrants, which moves with the share price; diluted earnings per share were $0.47. This recap walks the print, the delivery, the balance sheet and the read across to the AI data center builders.

The print

$CORZ reported the quarter ended September 30, 2026.

What moved the numbers:

• Billing capacity. 90 MW more billing in the quarter, from 395 MW to 485 MW.
• Margins. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 57%, from 25% in the second quarter, per the release. Colocation gross margin, our arithmetic: 60% ($128.4M on $215.4M).
• Mining keeps shrinking as sites are repurposed: self-mining revenue fell to $12.3M and ran at a gross loss.
• Operating income turned positive at $72.4M, after a second quarter carrying a $41.9M contract termination loss and $27.0M of site startup costs.
• Warrants. The fair value line swung from a $1.05B loss to a $1.03B gain in one quarter: it reverses with the share price and carries no cash.

The balance sheet

• Capex. $985.1M in the quarter, $1.49B of plant and equipment over nine months, plus $676.9M of asset acquisitions.
• Funding. $4.28B of debt issued this year and $1.0B repaid.
• Shares. 322.0M outstanding, from 314.2M in December; diluted weighted shares of 469.0M include the warrants.

AI data center read-through

The standing QA thesis on /stocks/corz: power-infrastructure scarcity is the binding constraint of the AI buildout, and Core Scientific owns energized, permitted capacity, contracted to CoreWeave for high-density computing at margins above bitcoin mining.

• Conversion to colocation. Confirmed: 93% of revenue now comes from colocation, and billing MW grew 23% in a quarter.
• Margins above mining. Confirmed: colocation earns a gross margin around 60% while self-mining runs at a loss.
• Funding the build. The open side: $4.3B of long-term debt, $35.0M of quarterly interest and liquidity down $857M in a quarter as construction under the second agreement ramps.

Net read: the first contract is close to fully billing; the next leg depends on delivering the second.

Peer reaction

$CORZ's closest correlated names in the QA universe over 252 days are $WULF (0.84), $CIFR (0.83), $IREN (0.80) and $APLD (0.77). IREN reported on November 5 too, and TeraWulf on November 6. The stock closed at $11.38 on November 5, the day of the release, down 26% over a month and 41% over three months in the data QA tracks.

What worked

• Colocation revenue of $215.4M, up nearly 60% in a quarter.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $133.6M at a 57% margin.
• Operating income positive at $72.4M.

What broke

• Liquidity down to $1.74B from $2.60B, with $985M of capex in the quarter.
• Leverage. $4.3B of long-term debt and a stockholders' deficit of $1.09B.
• Earnings noise. Net income swings by about $1B a quarter on the warrant line.

What to watch

• Full delivery under the first colocation agreement, and the first billing MW under the second.
• Capex pace against the remaining liquidity, and any new financing.
• Levels. The nearest auto Fibonacci retracement of the 52-week range sits at $14.84, above the November 5 close; there is no curated level on CORZ.

The level map, the peer table and the standing thesis live on /stocks/corz, where our Core Scientific teardown video is embedded. The full $CORZ dossier collects the filings and the numbers. For the same conversion told by a peer, see TeraWulf explained.

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Educational research on structural market dynamics. Not investment advice. QuantAbundance positions may change without notice.