CoreWeave Stock Tumbles Despite Strong Q3 Results as Supply Chain Delays Dampen Revenue Outlook

Once-hot cloud AI play CoreWeave is tanking. A JPMorgan downgrade is adding to the pressure

Near-term supply chain pressures will cap gains for CoreWeave , according to JPMorgan. The bank downgraded CoreWeave, which provides infrastructure for artificial intelligence firms, to neutral from overweight. Analyst Mark Murphy also lowered his price target to $110 per share from $135, signaling just 4% upside ahead. Murphy's downgrade followed CoreWeave's third-quarter earnings release . While the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter revenue, its full-year revenue guidance came in below analysts' expectations. CoreWeave shares tanked 10% in the premarket. CRWV YTD mountain CRWV YTD chart CoreWeave also said that one third-party data center developer is behind schedule. While CEO Mike Intrator assured investors that this delay wouldn't affect CoreWeave's backlog, JPMorgan's Murphy wasn't so sure, and pointed to the company's supply constraints as a major headwind. "The new variable is supply chain pressures escalating to a point that they are impacting one specific third-party data center developer used by CoreWeave, which is running behind schedule and shifts some of CoreWeave's revenue out of Q4," he wrote. "This means that not only are the major hyperscalers being forced to issue capacity-constrained revenue guidance, but the phenomenon is also spreading to CoreWeave, which has historically set one of the highest bars for on-time orchestration and delivery cadences in deployment of modern AI data centers." But Murphy emphasized that, in the long run, he sees "tremendous" opportunity for CoreWeave to serve the AI mega-trend and remains fundamentally constructive on the name. "Our view of CoreWeave's longer term opportunity remains unchanged, and it is possible that its revenue ramp will get back on track in Q1/Q2 of next year, as we saw with Microsoft's Azure surge in its most recent March and June quarters," he added. "However, we remain contemplative of the unprecedented and mounting industry-wide pressures across supply chains, and resultant difficulty of confidently forecasting how and when all of the interconnected variables will smoothly reach a point of equilibrium." Shares of CoreWeave have soared 164% since going public in March.

CoreWeave shares sink as weak outlook offsets big AI deals

CoreWeave shares plunged on Tuesday after it posted lower-than-expected full-year guidance, overshadowing strong third-quarter results and a string of new artificial intelligence partnerships. The New Jersey-based AI infrastructure firm reported revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, beating analyst forecasts of around $1.29 billion. Revenue surged 134% from a year earlier, while the company's net loss narrowed to $110 million from about $360 million. CoreWeave's quarterly growth was driven by new contracts with major tech firms. The company announced a $6.5 billion expansion of its business with OpenAI, a six-year deal with Meta worth up to $14.2 billion, and a $6.3 billion agreement with Nvidia for cloud computing capacity. Despite the gains, CoreWeave forecast 2025 revenue between $5.05 billion and $5.15 billion, short of analysts' $5.29 billion average estimate. Shares were down 9% in premarket trading Tuesday. Chief executive Mike Intrator told investors that construction delays at one data center were weighing on its near-term outlook. "There was a problem at one data center that's impacting us, but there are 41 data centers in our portfolio," he said. He said the company remains constrained by the availability of "powered-shell" data centers, which are facilities that are partly built and require CoreWeave to install its own equipment. "There's plenty of power right now, and we believe that there will be ample power for the next couple of years. But really where the challenge is, is the powered shell," Intrator said. He added that the company is building its own data center infrastructure in Pennsylvania and expects most of the delay to be resolved early next year. "The overwhelming majority of the delay that you're seeing should be taken care of within Q1 of next year." In October, shareholders of data center operator Core Scientific rejected CoreWeave's proposed $9 billion acquisition. The company's finance chief, Nitin Agrawal, said 2026 capital spending will be "well in excess of double" this year's estimated $12 billion to $14 billion.

CoreWeave earnings: Data-center operator posts $56 billion in contracted future revenue, but revenue guidance drops | Fortune

CoreWeave needed a lot of things to go right on Monday as it released third-quarter financial results, and one of the most critical was showing that its contracted future revenues could hit a $50 billion target Wall Street had set as a benchmark for the AI data-center and infrastructure operator. In its announcement, CoreWeave confirmed it nearly doubled its revenue backlog, which includes "remaining performance obligations" (RPOs) and other amounts it estimates will be recognized as revenue, to $55.6 billion, up from $30 billion the previous quarter. The surging backlog, which represents future revenues from customers, was driven by contracts with Meta, OpenAI, and French AI startup Poolside. Earnings and revenue, meanwhile, both beat analysts' consensus estimates. The company also reported an increase in the debt on its balance sheet, however, and it revised its full-year revenue guidance downward. Following its earnings release and call with analysts, the stock dropped 6% in after-hours trading. Some investors have trained a gimlet eye on CoreWeave as more skeptics kick the tires of the booming AI trade and the concurrent infrastructure buildout. Concerns about CoreWeave, which some see as a potential canary-like indicator of weakness in the AI ramp-up, and about the AI build-out in general have sent the stock on a journey that has seen it tumble more than 30% from mid-August highs. The downward revision in revenue guidance reflected delays in construction of some of CoreWeave's data centers. "While we are experiencing relentless demand for our platform, data center developers across the industry are also enduring unprecedented pressure across supply chains," CEO Michael Intrator said during the analysts' call. "In our case, we are affected by temporary delays related to a third-party data-center developer who is behind schedule." Chief financial officer Nitin Agrawal offered full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $5.05 billion to $5.15 billion, down slightly from the guidance Intrator offered on the second-quarter earnings call, of between $5.15 billion to $5.35 billion. The customer impacted by the delay agreed to adjust the delivery schedule and extend the expiration date, Intrator said, which means CoreWeave will maintain the total value of the original contract. Agrawal said the company's 2025 capex spending would be between $12 billion to $14 billion, down significantly from the $20 billion to $23 billion Intrator forecast last quarter. However, Agrawal said CoreWeave expects 2026 capex to soar. "Given the significant growth in our backlog and continued insatiable demand for our cloud services, we expect capex in 2026 to be well in excess of double that of 2025," Agrawal said. CoreWeave reported revenues of $1.4 billion for the quarter, up from $584 million in the same quarter last year and beat analysts' estimates. Profitability, at least by traditional GAAP measures, remains elusive. CoreWeave reported a net loss of $110 million, although it was an improvement over its $359.8 million loss in the third quarter last year and also better than analysts expected. Adjusted net loss, which shows financial performance without extraordinary items, was $41 million for the quarter compared to the same quarter last year when it was break-even, Agrawal said. Adjusted EBITDA, which shows earnings without certain one-time expenses, were $838 million in the third quarter, compared to $379 million in Q3 2024. Operating income, a metric that shows profit from core businesses, fell to $51.9 million, compared to the same quarter last year when it was $117.1 million. Operating margins shrunk to 4% from 20%. Meanwhile, adjusted operating income, which shows a different view on core business performance, was $217 million for the third quarter, compared to $125 million in the third quarter of 2024, said Agrawal, the CFO. CoreWeave's third quarter adjusted operating margin was 16%, due to higher revenues, lower costs, and the timing of data center deliveries from third parties. While Monday was just this side of positive for CoreWeave, analysts who are bearish on the AI cloud computing company remain leery of its finances. They see the company as at risk of being overwhelmed by the significant financial commitments it has taken on to build out data centers, which currently look disproportionately large compared to its revenues and cash flow. Based on its latest earnings release, CoreWeave has $9.7 billion in bills due within the next 12 months on its balance sheet, and a total of $14 billion in current and longer-term debt. Last quarter, those figures were $7.6 billion and $11 billion, respectively. CoreWeave also has $34 billion in scheduled lease payments on contracts that will commence between now and 2028. Interest expense reached $311 million for the quarter, nearly triple the figure from the year-earlier period, of $104 million. CoreWeave bulls, meanwhile, remain confident that revenues from the company's book of contracts will eventually far outstrip its debt obligations. During the past three months, CoreWeave has announced a spate of significant deals, booking a $14.2 billion deal to provide Meta with computing capacity and an agreement with Poolside for a data center with 40,000 of Nvidia's coveted GPUs.

CoreWeave's stock wavers on data center delay and lower revenue forecast - SiliconANGLE

CoreWeave's stock wavers on data center delay and lower revenue forecast Artificial intelligence compute infrastructure company CoreWeave Inc. delivered better than expected financial results today, but its stock lost ground after-hours when it revealed a tepid revenue forecast and said one of its third-party developers has fallen behind schedule on a key data center facility. The company reported a third-quarter loss before certain costs such as stock compensation of 22 cents per share, easily beating Wall Street's estimate of a 40-cent-per-share loss. Revenue for the period rose by an impressive 134% to $1.36 billion in the quarter, also surpassing the analysts' target of $1.29 billion. The increased revenue had the effect of narrowing CoreWeave's net loss considerably to just $110 million, down from a $360 million loss in the year-ago period. CoreWeave Chief Executive Michael Intrator (pictured) said the company's results are a reflection of its disciplined execution across every part of its business. "CoreWeave's position as the essential cloud for AI has never been stronger as we drive growth through focus and innovation to power the next generation of AI," he added. The fortunes of CoreWeave are tied directly to those of the AI industry, because the company specializes in renting out access to Nvidia Corp.'s graphics processing units and has secured numerous multibillion dollar deals with key cloud infrastructure providers such as Microsoft Corp. and Google LLC. The company said its backlog stood at $55.6 billion at the end of the quarter, with 2.9 gigawatts in power under contract, up from 2.2 gigawatts three months earlier. The company made some big announcements during the quarter, notably including a $6.5 billion expansion of its partnership with OpenAI Group PBC. It also signed a new, six-year deal with Meta Platforms Inc. that could ultimately be worth up to $14.2 billion, along with another contract from an undisclosed "leading hyperscaler". Despite the progress on the deal front, Intrator told analysts on a conference call that the company remains "supply constrained". He explained that the problem has to do with partly completed "powered-shell" data centers where the company intends to set up its own infrastructure, he said. Intrator also admitted that one of the company's third-party contractors has fallen behind schedule. He told analysts that the delay in construction won't impact the company's backlog, because the customer impacted by the holdup has agreed to adjust its delivery schedule. The original value of the contract will be maintained, he added. "There was a problem at one data center that's impacting us, but there are 32 data centers in our portfolio," Intrator pointed out. However, one problem with that delay is that it's likely going to impact CoreWeave's near-term fortunes. The company offered a full-year revenue forecast of between $5.05 billion and $5.15 billion, below Wall Street's target of $5.29 billion. CoreWeave has enjoyed a wild ride since going public on the Nasdaq in March, when it sold its shares at a price of $40 each. The stock closed at $105.61, representing a gain of more than 165%, only to fall almost 6% in late trading. Still, it continues to outperform the Nasdaq by a long way, with the broader index up just 32% over the same period. However, CoreWeave has had its share of disappointments too, including last month when shareholders of the data center infrastructure company Core Scientific Inc. voted to decline a $9 billion acquisition offer, claiming it was undervalued and didn't recognize its growth potential. CoreWeave chose not to increase its offer, and so the deal has been terminated. "We respect the decision of Core Scientific's stockholders regarding our previously announced merger agreement," CoreWeave said in a statement. "Our partnership with Core Scientific remains strong and will continue to execute on shared growth opportunities. CoreWeave's vision and strategy remain unchanged." Nevertheless, CoreWeave is still planning to spend lots of money in the coming months, acquisitions or not. On the conference call, Chief Financial Officer Nitin Agrawal said the company's capital expenditures in fiscal 2026 will be "well in excess of double" its $12 billion to $14 billion forecast for the current year.

CoreWeave beats third-quarter revenue estimates on AI computing boom

(Reuters) -AI cloud provider CoreWeave beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue on Monday, benefiting from surging demand for its computing infrastructure that powers artificial intelligence workloads. CoreWeave has cemented its position as a key infrastructure partner for the biggest names in technology, landing a string of multibillion-dollar deals, including from Meta Platforms and OpenAI, that underscore the voracious appetite for AI-powering graphics processing units. The company's third-quarter revenue more than doubled to $1.36 billion, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.29 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. The period reflected a phase of explosive growth for the company, marked by major new customer agreements. In September, it signed a $14 billion deal to provide AI infrastructure to Meta and expanded a pact with OpenAI for $6.5 billion. Its contract with the ChatGPT creator now exceeds $22 billion. CoreWeave shares, however, were down less than 1% in extended trading. The stock has been volatile since its debut earlier this year, as investors weighed massive contract wins against heavy spending and strategic setbacks. The stock, initially priced at $40 per share in its IPO, has more than doubled in value as of Monday's close, valuing the company at more than $50 billion. CoreWeave's aggressive expansion plans hit a snag in late October when crypto miner Core Scientific terminated a $9 billion all-stock merger agreement. The company posted a loss of 22 cents per share, narrower than the $1.82 per share reported a year earlier. Adjusted third-quarter core profit of $838.1 million beat the estimate of $811.6 million. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)