Core Scientific craters after soft Q4 sales

Earnings Rollercoaster: Hits, Misses, and Strategic Shifts

Core Scientific, a prominent Bitcoin miner that has diversified into a data center company, experienced a significant hit. The company's stock cratered in postmarket trading after reporting Q4 revenues of $79.8 million, falling far short of the $115 million estimate. This shortfall represents a stark 35% miss on market expectations. The disappointment was compounded by the disclosure of an accounting error, where Core Scientific had overstated the value of its property, plant, and equipment, requiring previous results to be restated. Management, however, clarified that these changes do not impact revenue, adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), or net cash flows.

Despite the revenue miss, Core Scientific did report an adjusted net income (a measure of profit that excludes certain irregular or non-recurring items) of $216 million, significantly above the estimated loss of -$47.5 million. This divergence suggests that while sales channels faced challenges, the company's underlying profitability was robust on an adjusted basis. Core Scientific's shareholders also rejected an offer from CoreWeave to purchase the company in Q4, an acquisition that would have created a more vertically integrated neocloud provider (a company that offers integrated cloud computing services, often specializing in high-performance computing or AI). This rejection underscores the company's independent strategic path, particularly its shift towards high-performance computing and AI hosting to create more stable revenue streams.

Navigating Guidance and Growth

Archer Aviation, an air taxi manufacturer, similarly reported a deeper-than-expected Q4 loss, posting a loss of $0.26 per share against an analyst expectation of $0.24 per share. Its shares fell 2.4% after-hours. Despite the loss, Archer ended 2025 with a robust cash position of $1.96 billion, a significant increase from $1.64 billion in Q3 and $834.5 million in the same quarter of the prior year. The company's Q1 outlook for adjusted EBITDA, however, also disappointed, with expectations of between -$160 million and -$180 million, compared to Wall Street's projection of -$104.7 million. Archer is actively pursuing its defense business, seeing it as a "front and center" division for the next decade, a strategy that aligns with its partnership with Anduril to develop an autonomous, hybrid-electric VTOL (Vertical Takeoff and Landing) aircraft for dual use. Last week, Archer announced a partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink to integrate satellite internet into its Midnight aircraft, highlighting its push for technological advancement.

Hydrogen Hopes and Peptide Potential

Meanwhile, Hims & Hers Health, a telehealth platform, saw its shares spike amid an unexpected catalyst. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., serving as Health and Human Services Secretary, indicated on a podcast that he is "very anxious" to make approximately 14 peptides more accessible and allow for compounding. Peptides are short chains of amino acids that regulate various bodily processes and are active ingredients in popular GLP-1 medications used for diabetes and weight loss. A more permissive regulatory stance towards these compounds could unlock substantial new revenue opportunities for Hims & Hers, signaling a potential shift in a regulatory environment that has been a significant headwind for the company.