CoreWeave Q1 Revenue Doubles but Weak Guidance Sends Shares Lower

CNBC reported Thursday that CoreWeave revenue surged past analyst expectations in the first quarter, yet a disappointing forward outlook pushed shares down roughly 9% in after-hours trading.

The GPU cloud company brought in $2.08 billion for the quarter. That compared with a consensus estimate of $1.97 billion from LSEG. Revenue had stood at $981.8 million in the same period a year ago.

Losses Deepen Even as CoreWeave Revenue Climbs

Despite the topline strength, CoreWeave’s net loss nearly doubled to $740 million. That widened from $315 million in the year-earlier quarter. Expenses are scaling faster than sales. Technology and infrastructure costs jumped 127% year over year to $1.27 billion. Sales and marketing outlays rose more than sixfold to $69 million.

The company closed the quarter carrying almost $25 billion in total debt. It raised $8.5 billion in fresh debt during the quarter alone, striking financing arrangements linked to AI startups including Cline and Perplexity.

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Background: Racing to Build at Hyperscale

CoreWeave has positioned itself as a specialist alternative to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. The company leases Nvidia GPU clusters primarily to AI model developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Co-founder and CEO Mike Intrator told analysts the business had “reached hyperscale.” He noted ten clients are now each committed to spending at least $1 billion on its services. That marks a meaningful shift from 2024, when Microsoft alone accounted for 62% of total revenue.

Key partner Nvidia invested an additional $2 billion in CoreWeave shares during the quarter, deepening an already close relationship. CoreWeave in turn committed to adopting a wider range of Nvidia products.

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Guidance Miss Overshadows the Beat

CoreWeave guided second-quarter revenue to a range of $2.45 billion to $2.65 billion. The midpoint of roughly $2.53 billion fell below the $2.69 billion Wall Street had penciled in.

Full-year guidance held steady at $12 billion to $13 billion. The company also raised the lower end of its 2026 capital expenditure range slightly, now projecting $31 billion to $35 billion. CFO Nitin Agrawal said the adjustment reflected component pricing pressures. Intrator acknowledged the challenge but expressed confidence in CoreWeave’s supply chain relationships.

S&P upgraded its outlook on CoreWeave’s credit rating to positive from stable. CoreWeave shares had gained nearly 80% year to date entering Thursday’s session, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 7% advance. Management reiterated a target of annualised revenue exceeding $30 billion by end of 2027.

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