** Shares of Core Scientific CORZ.O up 4% at $16.70 early Tues after bitcoin mining and high-performance computing data center operator raises more capital than targeted

** Austin, Texas-based firm early Tues announced pricing private offering of $550 mln 0% convertible bonds due Jun 15, 2031 (6-1/2-year tenor)

** Offering size boosted from $500 mln

** Initial conversion price of $22.49 represents 42.5% premium to stock's VWAP (volume weighted average price) from 2:00-4:00 p.m. ET on Mon

** Co intends to use net offering proceeds for general purposes, including potential acquisitions or securities repurchases

** With ~279.3 mln shares outstanding, co has ~$4.7 bln market cap, per LSEG

** Shares, which have surged nearly 80% over the past three months, closed at $3.44 on Jan 24 after co emerged from bankruptcy

** In Oct, Nvidia-backed NVDA.O AI hyperscaler CoreWeave exercised final contract option to take an additional 120 MWs of computing power from Core Scientific

** In Jun, Core Scientific rejected a $1 bln buyout offer from CoreWeave

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))