CoreWeave, an artificial intelligence infrastructure provider, reported a stronger-than-expected revenue of $981.6 million for the quarter ending March 31, significantly beating the $853 million consensus estimate. This represented an impressive 420% year-over-year increase from $188.7 million. Despite the revenue surge, the company posted a loss per share of $1.49 and a net loss of $314.6 million, wider than the previous year, largely due to $177 million in stock-based compensation tied to its recent IPO.
Bullish Revenue Forecast Driven By Major Contracts and Significant Capital Expenditure Plans
The company provided a bullish revenue forecast for the second quarter, expecting $1.06 billion to $1.1 billion, above analyst estimates of $986.7 million. CoreWeave projected full-year 2025 revenue between $4.9 billion and $5.1 billion, implying a growth rate of 363%. This growth plan requires substantial capital expenditures, with expected capex between $20 billion and $23 billion for the year. CEO Mike Intrator emphasized that higher spending reflects new client demand, not price increases.
CoreWeave Soars 420% in Revenue, Projects Billions in Growth Fueled by OpenAI, Microsoft Contracts
CoreWeave’s growth is strongly supported by major deals, including a recent five-year contract with OpenAI worth up to $11.9 billion and an additional $4 billion contract after the quarter ended. OpenAI and Microsoft are significant customers, with Microsoft accounting for 62% of 2024 revenue. However, the company is diversifying its client base across multiple industries, with no single entity representing more than half of the backlog, which stood at $25.9 billion at the end of the quarter.
Competing With Cloud Giants, Expanding Data Center Power To Meet Growing Demand
CoreWeave competes with cloud giants like Amazon by renting out Nvidia GPUs but has carved out a niche with large clients such as Google and Microsoft, relying on its infrastructure. The company is expanding its power capacity for data centers, adding 300 megawatts in the quarter, aiming to more than double deployed power by year-end from 1.3 gigawatts. This infrastructure expansion is crucial for sustaining rapid growth and meeting client demand.
Following the earnings release, CoreWeave’s stock initially rose but then declined about 5% in after-hours trading, reflecting investor uncertainty around new financial metrics like remaining performance obligation and revenue backlog classifications. Despite skepticism from analysts due to long-term AI market uncertainties and economic concerns, CoreWeave’s IPO was the largest U.S. tech venture-backed offering since 2021, anchored by Nvidia. Management remains confident in growth prospects despite near-term market volatility.
