CoreWeave faces mounting losses and operating deleverage despite robust AI-driven revenue growth and a $100 billion backlog. CoreWeave's adjusted operating margins declined sharply, while capital expenditures and net debt soared, with no near-term profitability in sight. Recent financings include $1B in 9.75% senior notes and $3.5B in convertible notes, further increasing interest expenses and leverage.
CoreWeave Chairman and CEO Michael Intrator says he is confident OpenAI can make its payments, after reports that the AI giant failed to meet its own goals for new user acquisition and sales. That fueled internal concerns that the company may struggle to support its spending on AI infrastructure Click Here
I hate to say it, since I'm not a believer in the efficient market hypothesis, but any upside for CoreWeave, Inc., like the record $40B in commitments last quarter, is largely priced in. CRWV is the obvious leader among neoclouds, with a FY26 exit ARR target of $18B - $19B, far above Nebius' $7B - $9B or IREN's $3.7B. Therefore, the CRWV Q1 backlog growth of 284% YoY, which is now sitting at roughly 8.0x the midpoint of FY26 revenue guidance, did not change investor perception.
CoreWeave delivered over 100% Y/Y top-line growth in Q1'26, driven by hyperscaler and enterprise GPU compute demand. Despite a sharp operating margin contraction to 1% due to aggressive debt-funded Data Center expansion, I reaffirm a 'Strong Buy' rating. Revenue backlog surged 284% Y/Y to nearly $100B, fueled by multi-billion dollar deals with Meta, Microsoft, Jane Street, and others.
CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) reported strong first quarter revenue growth that topped Wall Street expectations, but shares fell sharply as wider-than-expected losses and softer forward guidance weighed on sentiment. Revenue for the quarter reached $2.08 billion, up 112% from $982 million a year earlier and ahead of analyst estimates of about $1.97 billion, driven by continued demand for its AI infrastructure and cloud computing services.
CoreWeave, Inc. fell despite posting a blockbuster near $100B revenue backlog, up almost 300% year-over-year. Demand isn't slowing down anytime soon. CRWV's contracted compute capacity exceeds 3.5 GW, with most expected online by end-2027, underpinning robust medium-term growth. Despite a $25B debt load and 26% interest charges as a percentage of revenue, CRWV's oversubscribed $3.1B DDTL deal signals strong market confidence.
CoreWeave, Inc. (CRWV) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Stock futures are gaining ground Friday, while oil prices are holding steady amid uncertainty over the state of the ceasefire in Iran; the nonfarm payrolls report is expected to show that job growth slowed in April, as the economy faces risks including high gas prices caused by the war; Cloudflare shares are tumbling despite strong earnings as the company announced plans to cut about one-fifth of its workforce; shares of CoreWeave are also lower after the cloud computing provider posted a larger-than-expected loss for the first quarter; and Block shares are rising after the CashApp and Square parent topped Wall Street earnings estimates and lifted its profit forecast. Here's what you need to know today.
Nebius Group N.V. has surged over 100% YTD, fueled by resilient AI infrastructure capex and its acquisition of Eigen AI to enhance monetization of its AI Token Factory platform. However, visibility into scalable GAAP profitability remains limited, creating a weak pre-earnings setup after CoreWeave's latest results showed runaway growth is no longer enough without improving operating leverage. Rising component costs and elevated capex also increase Nebius' exposure to ROI-compression risks.
Revenue for the quarter reached $2.08 billion, up 112% on the year. But operating income fell a bit short of estimate.
Shares of AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) fell about 6% in premarket trading on Friday after the company issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance and lifted its capital expenditure outlook for next year. The company raised the lower end of its 2026 capital spending forecast to $31 billion from $30 billion, while maintaining the upper end of the range at $35 billion, signaling continued aggressive investment in data center infrastructure to meet surging artificial intelligence demand.
CoreWeave (CRWV) came out with a quarterly loss of $1.11 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.89. This compares to a loss of $0.6 per share a year ago.