CoreWeave’s strong earnings and upbeat forecast defy AI concerns

The earnings release arrives during a period of heightened uncertainty for CoreWeave and similar companies, as investor sentiment shifts regarding AI investments and Nvidia, a key player in the AI infrastructure buildout, faces scrutiny related to a leadership controversy.

Revenue reached $3.66 billion, exceeding the anticipated $3.55 billion. This represents a substantial 168% increase compared to approximately $1.36 billion a year ago. The company reported a net loss of $709 million, or $1.27 per share, compared to a $110 million loss in the same period last year. While the earnings per share loss of $1.27 was reported, a direct comparison to the LSEG consensus of $1.16 could not be immediately confirmed.

Executives revised their 2026 projections, now anticipating adjusted operating income between $1.275 billion and $1.375 billion on revenue of $13 billion to $13.3 billion. These figures surpass the expectations of analysts, who had previously projected $1.07 billion in adjusted operating income and $12.86 billion in revenue. The company had previously forecast $960 million to $1.15 billion in adjusted operating income and $12.4 billion to $13.2 billion in revenue.

CoreWeave’s stock value has declined by over 40% in the past month, influenced by investor rotation away from companies heavily involved in AI infrastructure. Concerns about access to capital have also been amplified by rising interest rates, with some CoreWeave bond yields exceeding 16%.

Nebius, another neocloud provider experiencing similar stock performance, is scheduled to release its earnings report on Thursday, and received a small boost from CoreWeave’s positive results.

Both CoreWeave and Nebius are significantly reliant on Nvidia, which supplies GPUs and crucial capital to the industry. Nvidia’s shares have fallen nearly 10% this week amid the ongoing investigation into Huang’s alleged involvement. Nvidia’s board has engaged Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate the matter and assess potential national security or company secret breaches.

Investors are also focused on the upcoming Nasdaq debut of Anthropic, a key CoreWeave customer, next week. Anthropic’s latest IPO prospectus suggests a potential valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion.

During the quarter, CoreWeave announced plans to establish its first data centers in Asia and introduced the Forge service for AI model development and evaluation. The company maintains its expectation of 1.85 gigawatts of active power by the end of 2026, and anticipates full-year capital expenditures between $37 billion and $39 billion.

CoreWeave’s debt currently stands at approximately $47 billion. The company, like major cloud competitors, is actively expanding computing capacity to meet client demand. However, recent voter rejections of data center development initiatives in the U.S., where CoreWeave generates most of its revenue, present a potential challenge.

The company’s revenue backlog has increased to $132.5 billion, up from $104 billion in June.

Management is scheduled to discuss the results further with analysts during a conference call at 5 p.m. ET.