CoreWeave (CRWV.US) Q3 revenue surged 168% year-on-year, raised full-year revenue guidance, surged about 5% after hours

According to Odaily, artificial intelligence cloud computing service provider CoreWeave (CRWV.US) released its third-quarter financial report on Tuesday, revealing that the company’s quarterly revenue grew by 168% year-over-year, fueled by continued growth in AI computing demand. This exceeded Wall Street expectations and led the company to raise its full-year revenue guidance. The financial results partially alleviated investors’ concerns over high debt levels and slowing business growth, driving the stock price to surge about 5% in after-hours trading.

The report shows that CoreWeave’s third-quarter revenue reached $3.661 billion, up 168% from $1.365 billion in the same period last year and exceeding the media consensus estimate of $3.56 billion from analysts. This also represents a sequential increase of about 42%.

Under US GAAP, the company reported a net loss of $709 million for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $110 million a year earlier and a net loss of $626 million in the previous quarter. The net loss per share on a diluted basis was $1.27, higher than the $0.22 per share in the same period last year, but better than analysts’ expectations for a net loss of $1.46 per share.

On a non-GAAP basis, the company’s adjusted net loss for the third quarter was $529 million, versus an adjusted net loss of $41 million a year earlier and $567 million in the last quarter. The adjusted net loss margin was 14%, an improvement from 22% in the previous quarter.

In terms of profitability, CoreWeave’s adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter reached $2.256 billion, an increase of approximately 169% from $838 million a year ago. The adjusted EBITDA margin hit 62%, the highest in the past five quarters.

GAAP operating income for the third quarter was $207 million, up from $52 million a year earlier, with the operating margin rising from 4% to 6%. The adjusted operating income was $379 million, up about 75% from $217 million in the same period last year. The adjusted operating margin was 10%, higher than last quarter’s 5% but lower than the 16% reported a year ago.

Full-Year Revenue Guidance Raised; AI Computing Demand Remains Robust

Looking ahead, CoreWeave expects full-year 2026 revenue to reach $13.0–13.3 billion, up from a previous maximum forecast of $13.2 billion. The raised revenue guidance demonstrates that while building AI data centers faces challenges such as rising financing costs and project delays, market demand for AI computing resources remains strong.

CoreWeave stated that rapid third-quarter revenue growth was mainly driven by robust demand for its AI cloud platform, a favorable pricing environment, and continued improvement in business execution capability.

On the client front, the company added new enterprise customers in Q3 including Canva, Serve Robotics, Substack, and Wayve, while further broadening relationships with existing clients such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Cohere.

CoreWeave also launched an artificial intelligence development platform called CoreWeave Forge, integrating model training, inference, monitoring, and evaluation functions—aimed at expanding beyond merely providing AI computing infrastructure to also entering the AI software and development tool space.

Unfulfilled Contract Backlog Reaches $132.5 Billion, Up 138% Year-Over-Year

CoreWeave disclosed that as of the end of Q3, the company’s total revenue backlog stood at $132.5 billion, up 138% from $55.6 billion a year earlier. Approximately 36% of the revenue backlog is expected to be recognized over the next 24 months, 38% between months 25 to 48, and the remaining 26% beyond 48 months.

The company explained that this backlog growth mainly comes from both existing and new customers—including AI labs, major cloud service providers, enterprise clients, and AI-native companies.

However, the backlog does not equate to earned revenue; revenue recognition still depends on the company’s ability to deliver computing capacity and related services as required by contract.

On the infrastructure front, by the end of September CoreWeave had 52 data centers in operation, with over 1.7 gigawatts of active power capacity and more than 4.6 gigawatts under contract.

In the third quarter alone, the company added over 900 megawatts of contracted power capacity, and further expanded internationally—with over 1.3 gigawatts of contract power capacity in markets such as India, Indonesia, and Spain.

Q3 Capital Expenditure Soars to $14.5 Billion; Massive Debt Still Worries Investors

Despite rapid revenue growth, CoreWeave’s enormous capex and debt load remain a central market concern. The report shows that the company’s Q3 capital expenditure reached $14.511 billion, a significant increase from $1.85 billion in the same period last year and higher than the previous quarter’s roughly $9.4 billion.

For the first nine months of the year, cumulative capital expenditure reached $30.65 billion, reflecting the ongoing large-scale investment required for AI data center and GPU infrastructure buildout.

At the same time, financing costs continue to rise. Net interest expense in the third quarter was $846 million, an increase of about 173% from $310 million the year before and also up from $640 million in the previous quarter.

Notably, while CoreWeave achieved GAAP operating income of $207 million in Q3, high interest expenses led to a net loss of $709 million.

To support business expansion, the company raised about $4.2 billion by increasing the size of its convertible preferred note issuance in Q3 and completed a $2.6 billion debt financing deal. Furthermore, CoreWeave has set up a stock offering plan to sell up to 35 million Class A shares.

Rising Obstacles for Data Center Construction; Microsoft Tightens Project Oversight

Beyond financing pressure, AI data center buildout is also encountering increasing policy and execution risks. According to reports, after the US midterm elections, some newly elected officials have adopted a more cautious or even opposing stance toward data center projects. Gina Hinojosa, the Texas Governor-elect, has called for an immediate halt to data center construction; CoreWeave has written to seek cooperation on related issues.

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MSFT.US) is stepping up supervision of projects run by some emerging cloud service providers and is pulling out of certain projects deemed too risky. Previously, Microsoft helped propel new AI cloud players by signing tens of billions of dollars in computing procurement contracts. But as some projects faced construction delays and cost overruns, Microsoft’s scrutiny of these partnerships has tightened.

As a key chip supplier and investor to CoreWeave, Nvidia maintains close relations with the company. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated last month that CoreWeave’s financial position is continuously improving.

Despite these challenges, CoreWeave’s latest financials show no evident slowdown in AI computing demand. Revenue significantly exceeded market expectations, full-year guidance was raised, and backlog orders continued to grow—providing some confidence to investors.

However, CoreWeave’s share price has underperformed this year. As of Tuesday’s close, the stock was down 32% year-to-date. After the earnings release, the stock rose about 5% in after-hours trading, indicating a positive market reaction to the results.

For investors, the key to CoreWeave’s long-term profitability will be whether it can convert sizable long-term contracts into realized revenue, while controlling financing costs and improving cash flow amid ongoing infrastructure expansion.