CoreWeave’s shares experienced a dip of 8% in after-hours trading on Thursday, a reaction to the artificial intelligence-focused cloud infrastructure provider’s cautious revenue guidance for the current quarter.
**Financial Performance and Outlook**
For the fourth quarter, CoreWeave reported a loss per share of 89 cents, missing the LSEG consensus estimate of a 49-cent loss. However, revenue for the period reached $1.57 billion, narrowly surpassing the expected $1.55 billion. This figure represents a significant 110% year-over-year increase in revenue.
Looking ahead to the first quarter, CoreWeave projects revenue between $1.9 billion and $2 billion, falling short of the $2.29 billion anticipated by LSEG analysts. For the full year 2026, the company forecasts revenues in the range of $12 billion to $13 billion, aligning with the $12.09 billion consensus from LSEG.
**Navigating Supply Chain Constraints and Expansion**
Despite the revenue guidance, CoreWeave CEO Mike Intrator highlighted persistent challenges in securing Nvidia’s critical graphics chips, the cornerstone of the company’s offerings. He noted that average prices for Nvidia’s H100 processors remained relatively stable throughout the fourth quarter, while older A100 models saw price increases in 2025.
CoreWeave reported having 850 megawatts of active power capacity by the end of the year, with contracted power reaching 3.1 gigawatts. This figure exceeded the LSEG analyst projection of approximately 827 megawatts of active power.
The company is embarking on an ambitious expansion plan, targeting $30 billion to $35 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, a substantial increase from the $10.31 billion invested in 2025. By the end of 2026, CoreWeave aims to have over 1.7 gigawatts of active power, surpassing the Visible Alpha consensus of 1.59 gigawatts. Furthermore, the company plans to add over five gigawatts beyond its current contracted footprint by 2030.
Intrator emphasized the broadening demand for AI infrastructure, stating, “Not only are we seeing the proliferation of demand across the economy going from where was initially really housed within the hyperscaler clouds and the foundation models. You’re now seeing it kind of explode into the enterprise. You’re seeing it move into sovereign. You’re seeing all these new participants beginning to come in and securing the infrastructure that they need.”
Addressing previous operational delays, Intrator confirmed that CoreWeave has successfully resolved issues disclosed in November. He elaborated, “We brought in data center technicians from across our entire portfolio, so that we have enough bodies to build at maximum speed,” with assistance from third-party vendors.
The company’s backlog of revenue surged to $66.8 billion from $55.6 billion at the close of the third quarter. CoreWeave’s weighted contract length has also extended to five years, up from four at the end of 2024.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at $898 million, slightly below the StreetAccount consensus of $929 million. Intrator explained the strategic decision to accelerate capacity build-out, stating, “We made the decision intentionally to go ahead and build more faster, and that is being driven by the fact that our clients are desperate to get access to more infrastructure faster.” He indicated a willingness to accept a short-term margin impact to accommodate this rapid expansion.
Following its public debut last March, CoreWeave reported a debt of $21.37 billion as of December 31.
**Market Context and Strategic Developments**
The artificial intelligence sector has garnered significant investor attention recently, with notable announcements from companies like Anthropic triggering substantial stock sell-offs.
CoreWeave serves prominent AI model developers, including Google and OpenAI. Year-to-date, its stock had seen a 36% increase as of Thursday’s market close, outperforming the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector Exchange-Traded Fund (IGV), which has declined by nearly 22% during the same period.
Recent strategic moves by CoreWeave include a partnership with model builder Poolside and the introduction of an object storage service designed to enhance how AI workloads access and scale data. The company also expanded its revolving credit facility to $2.5 billion, up from $1.5 billion, to support its growth initiatives.
While CoreWeave maintains its specialization in cloud infrastructure, its new storage offering positions it to compete more effectively with established players like Amazon Web Services.
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