As a key corner of the artificial intelligence trade takes a beating on Wednesday, traders are betting it could get even worse.
Shares of CoreWeave sank, while yields in its bonds surged higher. Elon Musk responded, "yikes" to the moves, pointed out on X by Chamath Palihapitiya late Tuesday.
CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV), the artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure provider, fell 14% to $66.73 on Wednesday as soaring bond yields and Elon Musk's one-word response intensified concerns about its debt burden. Musk, the billionaire technology entrepreneur, replied “Yikes” to a post by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya highlighting the rising yield on CoreWeave's unsecured bonds due in 2032.
CoreWeave stands to benefit from accelerating demand for AI compute capacity. At the current valuation, we believe the company offers a rare combination of value and growth elements. We find market concerns over customer concentration, GPU obsolescence, and funding risks overly pessimistic, as evidenced by data points we track and our channel checks.
CoreWeave sits on a backlog that dwarfs its closest rival, yet the stock has shed nearly 18% in a month and carries a debt load that would make most CFOs sweat.
CoreWeave's $104 billion backlog and a Street-high price target suggest massive upside, yet the stock keeps sliding as losses widen and debt piles up.
Nebius Group (NBIS) is upgraded to 'Buy' due to superior execution, balance sheet strength, and innovative tech stack compared to CoreWeave (CRWV), which remains 'Hold'. NBIS's diversified global data center footprint and proprietary software layer drive margin durability and attract major partners like Palantir. NBIS boasts a stronger balance sheet ($8B cash, $10.2B debt) versus CRWV ($5.5B cash, $51.6B debt), supporting higher bottom-line beat potential.
CoreWeave, Inc. maintains a Strong Buy rating, supported by rapid backlog growth and robust demand for AI data center capacity. CRWV added $25 billion in backlog in six weeks, with contracted revenue now far exceeding near-term guidance and growth limited mainly by data center buildout speed. The recent $4.2 billion convertible bond deal significantly lowers interest costs, improving CoreWeave's path to profitability despite potential dilution risks.
CoreWeave's revenue and $104 billion backlog highlight AI demand, but rising losses, heavy capital spending and debt risks cloud its growth outlook.
Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS | NBIS Price Prediction) stock is at $214.99, down 3% in morning trading, even as a new Buy rating sits on the AI cloud provider.
Ray Dalio used his appearance at the Milken Institute Asia Summit on Oct. 8 to warn about the stocks leading this market.
CoreWeave carries $35.6 billion in debt, negative free cash flow, and a stock down sharply from its highs, yet one investor keeps buying more shares after every dip. Here is the case that makes the numbers look completely different.