CoreWeave shares tumble 18% on bigger-than-expected loss as red-hot IPO lock-up nears end

CoreWeave’s red-hot debut earlier this year has hit a rough patch. Shares of the AI data center renter fell 18% after the company reported a loss that was deeper than Wall Street had projected. The timing couldn’t be worse — the IPO lock-up period expires Thursday evening, opening the door for insiders to sell.

In its second quarter as a public company, CoreWeave posted an adjusted loss of 27 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected 21 cents, according to a report from CNBC. The shortfall landed just months after its March IPO, which raised $1.5 billion in the biggest U.S. tech listing since 2021.

Analysts at Stifel flagged the looming lock-up expiration and the company’s recent Core Scientific acquisition as near-term headwinds.

“We remain constructive long term and are encouraged by today’s data points, but see near-term upside capped by the potential CORZ-related dilution and uncertainty, and the pending lock-up expiration on Thursday,” they wrote.

Shares of Core Scientific dropped 7% Wednesday, CNBC reported.

The lock-up isn’t the only storyline hanging over the stock. CoreWeave’s IPO came weeks after its three founders — Mike Intrator, Brian Venturo, and Brannin McBee — each pocketed at least $150 million from stock sales, raising eyebrows across the industry.

CoreWeave’s Red-Hot IPO Hits a Cold Reality; Shares Tumble 18% on Earnings Miss

For the current quarter, CoreWeave expects revenue between $1.26 billion and $1.30 billion, just above Wall Street’s $1.25 billion forecast. It also bumped its 2025 guidance to $5.15–$5.35 billion, up from its May range of $4.9–$5.1 billion. Analysts had been looking for $5.05 billion, but some wanted a stronger upgrade given how far the stock has run since March. Others pointed to lighter capital spending guidance and a delay in some outlays until the fourth quarter as a sign of potential softness.

“This delay in capex highlights the uncertainty around deployment time; as go-live timing is pushed, in-period revenue recognition will be smaller,” Morgan Stanley analysts noted.

Still, the top line tells a story of surging demand. Revenue tripled from a year ago to $1.21 billion, topping forecasts of $1.08 billion. CFO Nitin Agrawal told analysts that demand is outstripping supply, and the company has inked new expansion deals with hyperscale customers.

The quarter included a $1.4 billion acquisition of AI model-monitoring startup Weights and Biases and closed with a $30.1 billion revenue backlog.

Founded in 2017 as a crypto mining outfit, CoreWeave pivoted into AI infrastructure and now rents out access to Nvidia GPUs for training and running large AI models. Microsoft is by far its biggest customer, with others including Meta, IBM, and Cohere.

Revenue jumped more than 700% last year to nearly $2 billion. Losses remain steep, with a net loss of $863 million, underscoring the massive upfront spending on hardware and real estate needed to fuel growth.

The company’s growth engine got a big boost just before going public, locking in a deal with OpenAI worth up to $11.9 billion over five years. As part of that agreement, OpenAI invested $350 million into CoreWeave stock.