New York, Jan 14, 2026, 17:45 EST — After-hours
- CoreWeave shares climbed after the bell, defying the weaker tech sector trend
- CEO Michael Intrator rejected allegations related to Nvidia-linked “circular financing”
- A securities class action was announced, setting a lead-plaintiff deadline for March 13
CoreWeave, Inc. shares climbed 2.6% to $89.80 in after-hours trading Wednesday. CEO Michael Intrator pushed back hard on claims the AI cloud company benefits from Nvidia-linked “circular financing,” calling the notion “ridiculous.” Intrator explained that CoreWeave uses project-specific financing vehicles for its buildout and links customer contract cash flows directly to lenders, according to a Benzinga report. 1
The back-and-forth matters as investors grow more selective about payment models for AI infrastructure and who shoulders the risk amid pricey, limited hardware. The stock has seen volatile moves, with traders balancing demand for leased computing power against the hefty costs of construction.
CoreWeave brands itself as “The Essential Cloud for AI,” offering computing power centered on graphics processing units (GPUs) crucial for training and deploying artificial intelligence models. The company went public on Nasdaq in March 2025. 2
Traders refer to “circular financing” when money seems to circle back—like a supplier lending to a customer who then spends that cash on the supplier’s own goods. This setup blurs the true origin and destination of demand. The phrase carries weight, often surfacing when markets are jittery.
On Wednesday, plaintiffs’ firm Hagens Berman announced a securities class action against CoreWeave and select executives, targeting investors who bought CoreWeave securities from March 28, 2025, through Dec. 15, 2025. The lawsuit zeroes in on claims about meeting demand and revenue recognition, highlighting delays at a Denton, Texas data center cluster planned for OpenAI. The firm also pointed to a roughly 34% drop in CoreWeave’s share price between Nov. 10 and Dec. 16, wiping out about $14 billion in market value. “We are investigating the matters reported by the Journal,” said partner Reed Kathrein. 3
Elsewhere, Nvidia dropped roughly 1.5% Wednesday. Microsoft also slipped, down about 2.4%. Data-center operator Core Scientific edged lower, falling around 0.6%.
Traders will be watching closely in the next session to see if CoreWeave’s bounce sticks amid fallout from the lawsuit news, and whether the chatter around its financing quiets down or heats up. With a name this volatile, a single headline can flip the tape in an instant.
Yet the lawsuit piles on more pressure for a company already struggling to meet deadlines for new capacity. If major data center projects face further delays or if AI spending by key clients stalls, the cash flows backing debt payments and fresh GPU rollouts could come under strain.
Upcoming earnings will be key, with Nasdaq data indicating CoreWeave’s report is expected around Feb. 9. Investors want details on capacity expansions and how quickly customer commitments are coming in. 4
