CoreWeave Shares Drop 10% After Soft Q2 Outlook and Higher Capex Forecast

CNBC reported Thursday that CoreWeave shares dropped as much as 10% in after-hours trading. The AI infrastructure company’s second-quarter revenue guidance missed analyst expectations. Its full-year capital spending forecast also crept higher, unsettling investors.

Q1 Beat Could Not Offset a Cautious Outlook

CoreWeave’s first-quarter revenue reached $2.08 billion, topping the $1.97 billion consensus estimate compiled by LSEG. That figure represented more than a doubling of sales from the same period a year ago. Despite the beat, the company’s adjusted loss per share of $1.12 was wider than the 90-cent loss analysts had penciled in.

For the second quarter, management guided for revenue between $2.45 billion and $2.6 billion. The midpoint of that range fell well short of the $2.69 billion Wall Street had expected. The company held its full-year 2026 revenue target at $12 billion to $13 billion and reiterated that annualized revenue should exceed $30 billion by end of 2027.

Spending Is Growing Faster Than Revenue

Operating costs are accelerating sharply. Technology and infrastructure expenses jumped 127% year over year to $1.27 billion. Sales and marketing outlays rose more than sixfold. The net loss for the quarter widened to $740 million, versus $315 million in the year-earlier period.

CoreWeave also raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast. The new range of $31 billion to $35 billion nudges up from the prior low end of $30 billion. Finance chief Nitin Agrawal attributed the revision to shifts in component pricing driven partly by supply-chain pressures.

Background: Debt-Fueled Race Against Big Cloud

CoreWeave has pursued an aggressive borrowing strategy to build out data centers packed with Nvidia graphics processing units. The company raised $8.5 billion in fresh debt during the first quarter alone and ended March with nearly $25 billion in total debt outstanding. Cumulative debt and equity raised this year has crossed $20 billion. Chip giant Nvidia, a key supplier, purchased an additional $2 billion in CoreWeave shares during the period. S&P upgraded CoreWeave’s credit outlook to positive from stable, Agrawal noted on the earnings call.

Co-founder and CEO Mike Intrator pushed back against near-term skepticism, arguing that investors focused on short-term guidance were missing a broader structural shift in the economy driven by AI infrastructure demand. CoreWeave ended the quarter with a $99.4 billion revenue backlog and roughly 3.5 gigawatts of contracted power.

Stock Still Up Big in 2026 Despite the Drop

Even after Thursday’s after-hours slide, CoreWeave shares had gained nearly 80% year to date through the close. The S&P 500 had risen roughly 7% over the same stretch. The selloff reflects how demanding expectations have become for one of the year’s most closely watched AI infrastructure plays.

Read Next: What the Fed’s Rate Decision Means for High-Growth Tech Stocks