New York, Jan 12, 2026, 17:20 ET — After-hours
- CoreWeave shares surged Monday after executives downplayed worries about rapid depreciation of AI chips.
- Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating, noting strong prospects in premium AI cloud services but flagging worries about the company’s heavy leverage.
- Moody’s highlighted CoreWeave as one of the rare “hyperscalers” expected to ramp up data center investment sharply in 2026.
Shares of CoreWeave surged Monday, holding near their highs after the bell. The jump followed comments from CEO Michael Intrator, who doubled down on the company’s business model, catching investors’ interest.
The spark matters because the stock has become a proxy for a larger question: is renting out GPU capacity still profitable given the fast pace of hardware upgrades and the pressure from heavy debt loads? GPUs—the graphics chips—do most of the grunt work in AI model training and operation.
CoreWeave has come under fire for “circular financing”—a setup where a supplier puts money into a customer who, in turn, buys from that supplier. This practice has shaped investor attitudes toward AI infrastructure funding and valuations.
Shares closed at $89.63 before jumping 12.1% to $89.93 in after-hours trading. Yahoo Finance
Goldman Sachs’ Gabriela Borges kicked off coverage Monday with a Neutral rating and an $86 price target. She pointed to CoreWeave’s “purpose-built architecture” as a potential advantage over the traditional “hyperscalers” — the major cloud providers — and the newer GPU-focused “neoclouds,” a buzzword among investors. Still, Borges flagged execution risks and high leverage as concerns. Investing.com
The stock surged after Moody’s Ratings forecasted at least $3 trillion in data-center investments over the next five years, mainly funded by banks, institutional investors, and securitized markets. Moody’s singled out six U.S. hyperscalers — CoreWeave among them — expected to invest $500 billion in data centers this year alone. Los Angeles Times
Intrator fired back at the harshest critiques. On the Big Technology Podcast, he called the Nvidia “circular financing” accusations “ridiculous,” saying Nvidia’s stake was “de minimis” relative to CoreWeave’s total capital needs, Benzinga reports. Benzinga
Benzinga reported that Intrator detailed the company’s use of special purpose vehicles—structures set up to separate assets and cash flows—as a way to protect lenders from risk. Chief Strategy Officer Brian Venturo pointed to a recent contract renewal for older Nvidia A100 chips, locked in at about 95% of their original cost. That undercuts the idea that AI chips become obsolete in just a few years. Benzinga
The pushback arrives as the market grows ever less forgiving. Traders quickly penalize any hint that AI infrastructure spending is outstripping demand or that customer contracts could weaken as the technology shifts.
CoreWeave’s heavy capital demands have raised eyebrows since its IPO. Its first earnings report as a public firm showed spending plans that outpace near-term revenue estimates, fueling worries among analysts about persistent cash burn and mounting debt risks. Reuters
One clear downside risk: if AI demand cools or customers hold back on deployments, the resale value and usage rates of current GPUs could fall—right as refinancing costs climb. Moody’s also points to regulatory challenges and power constraints. Local pushback on electricity and water consumption might slow new capacity additions. Connect CRE
Up next: fresh data and updates on funding or capex. Nasdaq’s earnings calendar lists Feb. 9 as the likely date for CoreWeave’s report, though the company hasn’t confirmed it officially. nasdaq.com
