Catenaa, Wednesday, August 12, 2026- CoreWeave stock surged over 19% on Wednesday after the AI spending frenzy spurred faster sales growth than anticipated.
Sales will be $3.45 billion to $3.6 billion in the third quarter, the company said Tuesday. Analysts had estimated a figure at the lower end of that range, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The firm also said its backlog, a closely watched measure of future sales, was $104 billion at the end of the quarter. And CoreWeave inked more than $25 billion in new customer commitments after the period ended, it said.
This growing backlog suggests that “AI demand remains strong,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Vasu Kasibhotla and Anurag Rana said in a note.
CoreWeave has become a bellwether for the AI data center boom. Wall Street firms pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the build-out of digital infrastructure are closely watching its performance since it’s one of the few AI computing suppliers, known as neoclouds, that are publicly traded.
Its results are, to an extent, a gauge of how overall AI computing demand is faring.
The shares soared over 19% to $107.80 in New York on Wednesday. They were already up 50% this year.
Shares of data center operator Applied Digital and Neoclouds ‘ Nebius Group and IREN also gained after the results were announced.
CoreWeave signed deals in the second quarter that will carry margins 5 to 10 points higher than those in recent quarters, Chief Executive Officer Michael Intrator said during a call with analysts.
That’s due in part to tight capacity, allowing the company to secure more favorable terms.
For the full year, CoreWeave raised its revenue outlook to a range of $12.4 billion to $13.2 billion. Previously, the company anticipated sales of $12 billion to $13 billion.
Revenue more than doubled to $2.58 billion in the second quarter, the company said. Its net loss, meanwhile, was $1.14 a share, narrower than projected. Analysts had estimated sales of $2.56 billion and a loss of $1.41 a share.
CoreWeave, which serves customers like OpenAI, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, has borrowed tens of billions of dollars and is spending heavily on AI chips and data centers to meet demand.
The company said last week it will enter the Asian market with three planned data centers in Indonesia.
The rapid expansion has fueled red ink, but CoreWeave has been trying to get better borrowing rates by tying financing packages to larger and more established clients.
CoreWeave has faced recent turbulence. Its shares were hit by dramatic fluctuations over the past two weeks as AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness liquidated its public positions — a move that pressured many technology companies.
Ken Griffin’s Citadel ended up buying a big chunk of the fund’s AI stocks. Situational Awareness had owned about 1.6% of CoreWeave’s outstanding stock as of March 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
CoreWeave, which held its initial public offering in March 2025, has attracted investors looking to bet on the explosion in AI spending. The Livingston, New Jersey-based company is a close partner of Nvidia, the leading maker of AI chips. Nvidia is also a significant investor.
