Pressure Mounts on CoreWeave Earnings Amid AI Trade Slowdown

In Focus

• CoreWeave expected to report about $1.3 billion in Q3 revenue
• Company to report $0.36 in adjusted loss per share
• Operating margins expected to stand at 14.3%

CoreWeave’s earnings pressure continues to grow as the cloud computing firm prepares to release its third-quarter report. Yahoo Finance reported that analysts expect CoreWeave to report about $1.3 billion in Q3 revenue, more than double the amount generated a year ago.

CoreWeave’s Losses to Reduce Marginally

Despite significant revenue growth, CoreWeave’s AI cloud infrastructure losses are expected to narrow slightly.

Analysts expect the company to report $0.36 in adjusted loss per share compared to the $0.53 reported in Q2, which was attributed to rising capital spending. CoreWeave’s operating margins are expected to drop to 14.3% compared to 21% a year ago.

Last week, CoreWeave stock declined 22% on reduced AI trade as the recent rush to invest in AI cooled off.

Face in the AI Infrastructure Trade?

Investors will be paying close attention to CoreWeave’s AI spending risk. In recent weeks, Wall Street has expressed concerns over heavy spending by tech giants.

“Investors have gotten a lot more sensitive to the balance between growth and spend. Doubling revenue is great, but if capex is climbing even faster, that math doesn’t work forever,” Roundhill Financial CEO Dave Mazza said.

Investors are also worried about the circularity of many AI deals, where OpenAI has recently played a key role. CoreWeave recently expanded its partnership with OpenAI after the two firms signed a $6.5 billion deal.

The cloud computing firm already faces investor scrutiny over its debt burden and reliance on a few large customers. CoreWeave generates most of its revenue from Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft.

Investor Interest in CoreWeave Earnings:

• CoreWeave’s forecast on capital spending
• Recurring purchase orders
• Cloud computing firm’s backlogs and debt burden

CoreWeave Will Likely Increase Capital Spending

Hyperscalers have maintained the need to finance AI infrastructure with Microsoft’s Q1 capital spending for the 2026 fiscal year exceeding investor expectations.

Earnings reports from these companies indicated commitment to continue building AI infrastructure over the next year. It is expected that CoreWeave will continue to generate revenue from these hyperscalers in the coming quarters.

“We expect this revenue to remain largely supply-constrained, which could force the company into greater capital spending next year. Roughly two-thirds of this year’s capex, or about $14 billion that we calculate, could be realized in Q4,” Bloomberg Intelligence Technology Analyst Anurag Rana wrote.

CoreWeave has already invested $6 billion in an AI data center in Pennsylvania.

Focus on Q4 Revenue Flow

Wall Street will want to know how much CoreWeave has grown its recurring purchase orders. Investors will be looking out for backlogs and how these aspects contribute to revenue in the coming quarters.

Some analysts see the cloud computing company doubling its recurring purchase orders in Q3 to $60 billion compared to the same period a year ago.