CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) Stock Slides 11% as Backlog Timing Tests $35 Billion Buildout

CoreWeave closed at $71.88, down 11.37% during Friday’s regular session. The shares opened at $79.50 and finished close to the session low. Volume reached 25.5 million shares, below its 65-day average of 28.7 million. The Nasdaq fell 0.64%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank 4.5%. CoreWeave’s decline was far steeper than either benchmark. Broad AI-sector selling likely contributed, but the full cause remains uncertain. MarketWatch

CoreWeave has not posted a second-quarter reporting date on its investor calendar. The latest listed earnings call remains May 7, covering first-quarter results. Third-party calendars currently range from August 11 to August 18. Those dates are provisional until CoreWeave formally confirms the schedule. CoreWeave

Management guided second-quarter revenue between $2.45 billion and $2.60 billion. At midpoint, that implies about 21.5% growth from first-quarter revenue. Adjusted operating income is expected between $30 million and $90 million. That implies only about a 1% to 4% adjusted operating margin. Interest expense is forecast between $650 million and $730 million. Quarterly capital spending should reach $7 billion to $9 billion. Revenue alone may not settle this debate.

First-quarter revenue rose 112% to $2.078 billion from $982 million. Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.157 billion, producing a 56% quarterly margin. Yet adjusted operating income fell to $21 million from $163 million. Its adjusted operating margin collapsed to 1% from 17% one year earlier. GAAP operating loss widened to $144 million, while net loss reached $740 million. Depreciation and interest account for much of that profitability gap. CoreWeave

Full-year revenue guidance stands between $12 billion and $13 billion. Capital expenditures are projected between $31 billion and $35 billion. Midpoint capital spending equals roughly 2.6 times midpoint annual revenue. Exit annualized revenue is targeted between $18 billion and $19 billion. That metric annualizes December’s monthly revenue, not twelve months of sales. The plan requires fast deployment, high utilization and timely customer starts.

At March 31, reported principal debt totaled $25.149 billion. Cash and equivalents were $2.244 billion on that reporting date. Operating lease liabilities added another $10.050 billion of balance-sheet obligations. SEC First-quarter net interest expense rose 103% year over year to $536 million. Second-quarter guidance calls for interest expense of $650 million to $730 million. June notes carried 9.625% dollar coupons and 8.5% euro coupons. Some proceeds may repay debt, leaving current net debt uncertain. CoreWeave

Reported revenue backlog reached $99.4 billion at March 31. Formal unsatisfied performance obligations were slightly lower, at $98.8 billion. Only 36% is expected to be recognized during the first 24 months. Another 39% should be recognized during months 25 through 48. The remaining 25% extends across months 49 through 84. Revenue recognition still depends on capacity delivery and service availability. The total is huge, but much of it remains distant. CoreWeave

Two unnamed customers produced 45% and 20% of first-quarter revenue. Together, those two customers accounted for 65% of total quarterly sales. The largest disclosed customer concentration was 72% one year earlier. That year-over-year comparison remains imperfect. CoreWeave says customer labels may represent different names across reporting periods. Meta also signed a new $21 billion commitment during March. Investors should not infer which named customers match those percentages. SEC

Using April’s two-class share count, Friday’s close implies $39.2 billion of equity value. That equals roughly 3.1 times midpoint 2026 revenue guidance. MarketWatch The stock remains about 80% above its $40 IPO price. It sits roughly 18% below Nvidia’s January investment price of $87.20. CoreWeave Those simple comparisons ignore nearly $25 billion of reported March debt. Enterprise value is therefore materially higher than the equity figure. The precise current multiple awaits a newer balance sheet. SEC

CoreWeave joined the Nasdaq-100 before trading began on June 22. Short interest totaled 64.36 million shares on July 15. That represented 18.97% of public float, despite falling 20.5% from June 30. CoreWeave Alphabet recently said third-party compute would bridge its capacity shortages. The shares were headed roughly 3% higher after hours following that comment. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Apple report during the coming week. Their spending comments could quickly reset AI-infrastructure expectations across the market. MarketWatch