Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal has started coverage of Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ) with an Overweight rating Tuesday on the basis of his bullish long-term view on bitcoin (BTC-USD).CORZ shares climbed 16.1% to $1.59 in late morning trading as bitcoin (BTC-USD) surpasses its key $20K technical level, rising 3.8% to $20.07K. El-Assal called Core Scientific (CORZ) a best-in-class, leveraged play on the cryptocurrency ecosystem, noting its operating metrics that outperform the mining industry time and time again. The company mined 1,334 bitcoin's (BTC-USD) at the end of August, rising 9% from the prior month. Among other reasons tied to El-Assal's upbeat coverage includes: "flexibility provided by CORZ’s hosting vs. self-mining revenue streams, and 4) greater geographic diversification," he wrote in a note to clients. The Quant system, which screens CORZ as a Strong Sell, warned investors at the end of August that the stock is at high risk of performing badly due to decelerating momentum and inferior profitability. Shares have dropped nearly 38% since that call. Nevertheless, the analyst sees CORZ's 85% year-to-date drop "as creating very favorable risk/reward dynamics."Previously, (Sep. 6) Core Scientific started with Buy rating at H.C. Wainwright.
