Key Takeaways
- CRWV shares declined 18.5% following the release of Q4 financial results on February 27
- Q4 revenue reached $1.57B, representing 110% growth year-over-year, while Q1 projections fell short of analyst expectations
- The company posted a $284M net loss in Q4, compared to $36M in the prior-year period
- Contracted revenue backlog expanded to $66.8B from $15.1B, boosted by a Meta agreement valued at approximately $5B
- Management projects 2026 capital expenditures between $30B and $35B, significantly higher than 2025’s $14.9B
CoreWeave (CRWV) experienced substantial selling pressure following its fourth-quarter earnings announcement, with shares declining 18.5% on February 27. Market participants reacted negatively to mounting expenses and conservative near-term projections, overshadowing the company’s revenue achievements.
CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV
The company reported Q4 revenue of $1.57 billion, representing 110% annual growth and marginally exceeding the analyst consensus of $1.53 billion. However, the net loss expanded considerably to $284 million from $36 million in the year-ago quarter.
The per-share loss reached $0.89, significantly higher than the $0.50 Wall Street estimate. Adjusted operating margin compressed to approximately 6%, down from 16% in the comparable period.
Contracted revenue backlog surged from $15.1 billion to $66.8 billion, nearly quadrupling in size. Among the new agreements is a Meta partnership valued at roughly $5 billion.
CEO Michael Intrator explained the company’s strategy to accelerate infrastructure deployment. “We made the decision to go ahead and to build faster so that we can deliver more infrastructure,” he told Reuters.
This aggressive expansion strategy requires substantial financial resources. CoreWeave anticipates capital expenditure ranging from $30 billion to $35 billion in 2026, compared to $14.9 billion in 2025. The spending supports Nvidia chip acquisitions, data center development, and power infrastructure.
CFO Nitin Agrawal emphasized that all capital commitments correspond to executed customer contracts. Intrator projected that Q1 would represent “the low point” for profitability metrics before sequential improvement.
Wall Street Adjusts Expectations
The analyst community largely maintained neutral stances following the report. JPMorgan’s Mark Murphy reduced his price objective from $110 to $90, citing Q1 guidance that fell substantially below consensus and an investment phase that proved “more pronounced than expected.”
Mizuho’s Gregg Moskowitz kept his Hold rating while lowering his target from $100 to $95. Stifel’s Ruben Roy adjusted his price objective to $110 from $120, observing that the company fast-tracked investments in Nvidia’s Blackwell and Rubin processors. Active data center capacity expanded from 590MW to 850MW during the quarter.
Roy stated he requires evidence of operational improvement before adopting a more optimistic outlook. While the capital spending program secures future revenue streams, it pressures near-term profitability.
D.A. Davidson’s Alexander Platt diverged from the broader consensus. He elevated his price target from $110 to $125 while maintaining his Buy rating, contending that rapid capacity deployment represents the critical success factor in AI infrastructure competition. Cantor Fitzgerald sustained an Overweight rating with a $131 target.
Executive Transaction and Balance Sheet
On February 26 — one trading day before the share price decline — CoreWeave’s General Counsel Kristen J. McVeety divested 2,601 Class A shares at prices ranging from $95.77 to $100.40, generating proceeds of $261,554. The transaction executed under a predetermined trading arrangement established in May 2025. She retains ownership of 120,079 shares.
The company maintains approximately $14 billion in outstanding debt. Management indicated expectations for declining weighted average cost of capital as operations scale.
CoreWeave concluded 2025 with 850 megawatts of operational capacity distributed across 43 data centers, with 3.1 gigawatts of contracted capacity scheduled to become operational primarily by 2027.
For Q1, management guided revenue between $1.9 billion and $2.0 billion. This projection fell short of the $2.29 billion analyst consensus.
On TipRanks, CRWV holds a Moderate Buy consensus from 11 Buy and 8 Hold ratings, with an average price target of $114.18.
