CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWV) ended Wednesday, December 17, 2025, on the back foot and stayed volatile after the closing bell, as a fresh wave of skepticism hit the broader AI infrastructure trade.
CoreWeave stock after the bell: where CRWV stands right now
CRWV finished the regular session near $64.54, down roughly 7.1% on the day, after trading in a wide intraday range of about $63.80 to $69.99. In the early after-hours window, the stock ticked modestly higher to around $64.68 (after-hours prices can change quickly). [1]
That move left CoreWeave squarely in the center of a risk-off session for AI-linked names—one that wasn’t about a single company headline, but about investor confidence in how the AI buildout gets financed.
Why CoreWeave fell today: AI infrastructure nerves drove the tape
The clearest theme Wednesday was pressure across AI “former superstars” as investors questioned whether the spending boom will deliver profits quickly enough—and whether balance sheets across the ecosystem are getting stretched in the process.
The Associated Press described the session as a broad pullback led by AI stocks, noting CoreWeave fell 7.1% alongside declines in other AI heavyweights. [2]
That macro tone matters for CoreWeave because its business sits at the intersection of:
- enormous demand for GPU compute, and
- enormous capital requirements to build and power that capacity.
The biggest market-moving headlines today that shaped CoreWeave sentiment
1) Wall Street’s AI trade pulled back again
Wednesday’s session saw a notable “AI risk premium” reset: investors sold the businesses most exposed to the cost of building data centers and the pace of payback. AP specifically pointed to ongoing questions about whether AI spending will be “worth the cost,” and flagged rising worries around the debt some companies are using to fund that spending. [3]
2) Oracle/OpenAI data center funding uncertainty spilled into the AI infrastructure complex
A major contributor to today’s infrastructure anxiety was a late-day report centered on Oracle’s Michigan data center project tied to its AI infrastructure push with OpenAI.
Reuters reported that Oracle said talks for an equity deal remain on schedule and do not include Blue Owl Capital, after market chatter about stalled negotiations weighed on Oracle shares. The project is described as part of the “Stargate” AI infrastructure push by Oracle and OpenAI, and Reuters also highlighted how investors have been scrutinizing the debt and the financing path around these massive buildouts. [4]
Even though this is not “CoreWeave-specific” news, it matters because it reinforces the same market fear investors have been applying to CoreWeave: AI infrastructure demand may be real, but the funding path and execution timeline can still punish the stocks.
3) The “depreciation” and “hardware obsolescence” debate is back in focus
Short-seller critiques resurfaced this week in a way that traders are actively pricing.
Benzinga summarized comments from famed short seller Jim Chanos, arguing that some AI infrastructure operators may be relying on depreciation assumptions that underestimate how quickly cutting-edge GPUs become economically obsolete. Chanos’ core point: if GPUs need to be depreciated over 3–4 years rather than ~6, reported profitability could look materially different. [5]
For CoreWeave—a company built around deploying and renting GPU capacity—this specific critique is especially market-moving because it lands right on the question investors care about most: do returns outrun cost of capital over time?
4) Goldman’s “tail risk” framing offered a counterweight (but didn’t reverse the trade)
Not all commentary was bearish.
Benzinga also reported that Goldman framed CoreWeave and Oracle concerns as “tails”—a small slice of the overall AI funding picture—arguing that these cases are outliers rather than systemic indicators, and emphasizing that some of the issue looks like deployment/supply chain backup rather than demand destruction. [6]
That is supportive context for the bull case, but the market’s action today suggests traders weren’t ready to pay up for that nuance ahead of more macro data (and with infrastructure financing headlines still hitting the tape).
5) Cathie Wood kept buying CoreWeave as the stock slid
In a headline that will likely stay in the conversation into Thursday morning, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest was again linked to dip-buying.
A TalkMarkets piece (sourcing Invezz) reported Wood bought about 136,000 shares of CRWV this week across ARK funds, even as the stock has struggled in recent months. [7]
A separate Barchart/FinancialContent column also highlighted ARK’s purchases and framed the move as a high-conviction bet amid the selloff. [8]
Dip-buying from a high-profile investor can influence short-term sentiment, but it can also sharpen the debate: is this a contrarian entry point—or a sign that volatility and disagreement are only intensifying?
Analyst forecasts and price targets: what Wall Street expects from here
Despite the selloff, street targets still imply large upside—though the spread of estimates shows how uncertain the market remains on execution and longer-term economics.
- Investing.com’s compiled analyst targets (26 analysts) show an average price target around $130.96, with a high estimate near $208 and a low estimate near $36. [9]
- MarketBeat’s aggregation (33 analyst ratings) lists a consensus price target around $128.53 and characterizes the consensus rating as Hold, reflecting mixed positioning even with high implied upside. [10]
Also notable: one widely-circulated change referenced this week came from Mizuho, which lowered its price target to $92 from $120 while keeping a Neutral rating, in the context of its 2026 outlook work. [11]
The takeaway going into Thursday: targets remain elevated, but confidence is fragile—and price targets alone aren’t stabilizing the stock when investors are focused on funding conditions, delivery timelines, and margin durability.
The fundamental backdrop investors keep citing (latest company-reported snapshot)
CoreWeave is still a newly public name—the company notes it completed its public listing on Nasdaq in March 2025. [12]
Its most recent quarterly report remains central to the bull/bear tug-of-war. In its Q3 2025 results release (for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025), CoreWeave reported:
- Revenue of about $1.3647 billion (up sharply year over year), [13]
- A net loss of about $110.1 million, [14]
- And a stated revenue backlog of $55.6 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025. [15]
The same release also highlighted large customer commitments and expansion, including an OpenAI partnership expansion that CoreWeave described as bringing total commitments to up to approximately $22.4 billion, and an “up to approximately $14.2 billion” multi-year deal with Meta (with an option to expand). [16]
This is the crux of the valuation debate:
- Bulls see backlog and customer commitments as proof that demand is real and durable.
- Bears worry that the cost of building and refreshing GPU-heavy infrastructure (plus the cost of capital) can overwhelm reported margins—especially if deployment timelines slip.
What to know before the market opens tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025)
Here are the practical, near-term items likely to shape CRWV’s premarket and early session trading:
1) Macro data risk: inflation and labor data are front and center
AP noted investors were looking ahead to a Thursday report on inflation. [17]
Separately, Investing.com previewed Thursday as a key day with CPI, initial jobless claims, and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing data among the headline items. [18]
For high-multiple, capital-intensive AI infrastructure names, macro prints that shift rate expectations can hit sentiment fast—especially after a day like today when the tape was already risk-off.
2) Watch for follow-through (or walk-back) headlines on AI data center financing
The Oracle/Blue Owl/partnering uncertainty is exactly the type of narrative that can either:
- accelerate the “AI capex hangover” trade, or
- fade quickly if additional clarity appears overnight or premarket.
If new details emerge on funding partners or timelines, the impact could ripple across AI infrastructure names, including CoreWeave. [19]
3) The Chanos “depreciation” critique can keep pressure on sentiment
Even without new CoreWeave filings, this kind of critique often stays in rotation for several sessions because it reframes the debate around economic life of GPUs and “true” profitability.
If the story continues to trend on social and financial media overnight, it can act like a headwind into Thursday’s open. [20]
4) Keep an eye on positioning signals: ARK flows and “dip-buying” narratives
Cathie Wood’s purchases can become a catalyst for both sides:
- bulls cite it as conviction into fear,
- bears cite it as sentiment-driven averaging down.
Either way, it can influence Thursday’s chatter—and chatter matters for a stock trading this emotionally. [21]
5) Price levels that matter after today’s drop
From a purely tactical standpoint, today defined fresh reference points:
- regular-session close around $64.54,
- after-hours near $64.68 (early evening),
- intraday low around $63.80 and high around $69.99. [22]
If CRWV breaks below today’s low in premarket, traders often interpret that as “selloff still in control.” If it reclaims the mid-to-upper $60s early, some will view it as an attempt to stabilize after a sharp drawdown.
Bottom line heading into Thursday’s open
CoreWeave stock is ending Dec. 17 with momentum against it, not because of a single company press release, but because the market is actively repricing the AI infrastructure buildout around three words: financing, timelines, and payback. [23]
Thursday morning’s setup is simple:
- If inflation/labor data and data-center financing headlines calm down, CRWV could attempt a bounce from depressed levels.
- If macro data spooks markets again—or more “funding/returns” doubts hit the tape—CoreWeave may remain a pressure point in the AI trade.
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. apnews.com, 3. apnews.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.benzinga.com, 6. www.benzinga.com, 7. talkmarkets.com, 8. markets.financialcontent.com, 9. www.investing.com, 10. www.marketbeat.com, 11. www.tipranks.com, 12. investors.coreweave.com, 13. investors.coreweave.com, 14. investors.coreweave.com, 15. investors.coreweave.com, 16. investors.coreweave.com, 17. apnews.com, 18. ng.investing.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.benzinga.com, 21. talkmarkets.com, 22. www.investing.com, 23. apnews.com
