(Feb 27): CoreWeave Inc fell by the most in more than six months after reporting a bigger-than-expected loss and boosting capital expenditures, spurring concerns about the company overspending on infrastructure.
The loss widened to 89 cents a share in the fourth quarter, the company said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts had estimated about 72 cents on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue rose to US$1.57 billion, compared with a US$1.55 billion prediction.
The company, an operator of AI data centres, also said that 2026 capital spending will be US$30 billion to US$35 billion — a bigger figure than analysts anticipated.
CoreWeave, part of a group of companies known as neoclouds, rents out access to powerful chips and computing resources. Demand has surged for its services, and the company boasts contracts with clients such as OpenAI, Meta Platforms Inc and Microsoft Corp.
But expanding its capacity is costly — and there have been some hiccups. In November, the company lowered its annual revenue forecast due to a delay in fulfilling a customer contract. CoreWeave has been taking on more debt to fund projects.
In an interview, chief executive officer Mike Intrator said CoreWeave only borrows money to buy equipment, such as AI processors, after lining up customers to use it.
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“Yes, we are going to have a massive amount of spending,” he said. “But there’s no way that anyone would lend us that money if we weren’t already in a position where we have sold that to the Microsofts and the Metas and the Nvidias and the Googles.”
The company is “unapologetic” about operating that way, he said. “That is a fundamental investment thesis that people have to get comfortable with our company. It’s what we do.”
Investors may still need more convincing. CoreWeave shares fell as much as 19% on Friday after trading got underway in New York, their biggest intraday decline since Aug 13, 2025. The stock had been up 36% so far this year heading into Thursday’s report.
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Sales will be US$12 billion to US$13 billion this year, CoreWeave said, with roughly US$2 billion coming in the first quarter (1Q). Analysts had predicted 2026 revenue of US$12.1 billion and 1Q sales of US$2.24 billion. Adjusted operating income will range from the break-even point to US$40 million, the company said.
CoreWeave, which held its initial public offering in March 2025, has attracted investors looking to bet on the explosion in artificial intelligence (AI) spending. The Livingston, New Jersey-based company is a close partner of Nvidia Corp, the leading maker of AI chips.
Nvidia invested an additional US$2 billion in CoreWeave last month, aiming to speed up an effort to add more than five gigawatts’ worth of AI computing capacity by 2030. As part of the collaboration, CoreWeave will be among the first to deploy forthcoming Nvidia products.
The company has also been adding to its debt load and is looking to raise about US$8.5 billion from banks including Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc to help finance a build-out of cloud computing capacity for Meta, people familiar with the matter said earlier this week.
CoreWeave has dramatically ramped up borrowing in recent years, joining an industry-wide debt binge that has unsettled some investors. The company’s adjusted leverage, a measure of debt to earnings, stood at about 6.9 times as of Sept 30, and it’s expected to burn cash for at least the next 18 months amid heavy capital expenditures, according to a recent Moody’s Ratings report.
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