CoreWeave needed a lot of things to go right on Monday as it released third-quarter financial results, and one of teh most critical was showing that its contracted future revenues could hit a $50 billion target Wall Street had set as a benchmark for the AI data-center and infrastructure operator.
In its announcement, CoreWeave confirmed it nearly doubled its revenue backlog, which includes “remaining performance obligations” (RPOs) and othre amounts it estimates will be recognized as revenue, to $55.6 billion, up from $30 billion the previous quarter. The surging backlog, which represents future revenues from customers, was driven by contracts with Meta, OpenAI, and French AI startup Poolside.Earnings and revenue, simultaneously occurring, both beat analysts’ consensus estimates.
The company also reported an increase in the debt on its balance sheet, however, and it revised its full-year revenue guidance downward. Following its earnings release and call with analysts, the stock dropped 6% in after-hours trading.
Some investors have trained a gimlet eye on CoreWeave as more skeptics kick the tires of the booming AI trade and the concurrent infrastructure buildout. Concerns about CoreWeave, which some see as a potential canary-like indicator of weakness in the AI ramp-up, and about the AI build-out in general have sent the stock on a journey that has seen it tumble more than 30% from mid-August highs.
The downward revision in revenue guidance reflected delays in construction of some of CoreWeave’s data centers. “While we are experiencing relentless demand for our platform, data center developers across the industry are also enduring unprecedented pressure across supply chains,” CEO michael Intrator said during the analysts’ call. “In our case, we are affected by temporary delays related to a third-party data-center developer who is behind schedule.”
Chief financial officer Nitin Agrawal offered full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $5.05 billion to $5.15 billion, down slightly from the guidance intrator offered on the second-quarter earnings call, of between $5.15 billion to $5.35 billion. The customer impacted by the delay agreed to adjust the delivery schedule and extend the expiration date, Intrator said, which means CoreWeave will maintain the total value of the original contract.
Agrawal said the company’s 2025 capex spending would be between $12 billion to $14 billion, down substantially from the $20 billion to $23 billion Intrator forecast last quarter. Though, Agrawal said CoreWeave expects 2026 capex to soar.
CoreWeave Reports Increased Revenue and Operating Income, But Debt concerns Persist
CoreWeave, an AI cloud computing provider, announced its third quarter 2025 results, showcasing notable growth in revenue and adjusted operating income. however, analysts remain cautious due to the company’s considerable debt and financial commitments.
According to the company, third quarter revenue reached $834 million, a substantial increase from $497 million in the same period of 2024. Adjusted operating income rose to $217 million, compared to $125 million in Q3 2024, resulting in a 16% adjusted operating margin [https://fortune.com/2025/11/08/coreweave-earnings-debt-ai-infrastructure-bubble/]. This improvement is attributed to higher revenues,lower costs,and the timing of data center deliveries.
despite the positive financial performance,concerns linger regarding CoreWeave’s financial obligations. The company currently has $9.7 billion in bills due within the next 12 months and a total of $14 billion in current and longer-term debt [https://fortune.com/2025/11/08/coreweave-earnings-debt-ai-infrastructure-bubble/]. These figures have increased from $7.6 billion and $11 billion respectively, in the previous quarter [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1769628/000176962825000041/crwv-20250630.htm]. Furthermore, CoreWeave faces $34 billion in scheduled lease payments on contracts extending through 2028. Interest expense for the quarter reached $311 million, nearly tripling the $104 million reported in the year-earlier period.
Analysts express concern that these financial commitments may overwhelm the company, especially given the large scale of its data center build-out relative to current revenues and cash flow.
However, CoreWeave’s supporters point to a growing backlog of contracts as evidence of future revenue potential. Recent deals include a $14.2 billion agreement to provide computing capacity to meta [https://fortune.com/2025/11/08/coreweave-earnings-debt-ai-infrastructure-bubble/], and a partnership with Poolside for a data center equipped with 40,000 Nvidia GPUs [https://fortune.com/2025/11/08/coreweave-earnings-debt-ai-infrastructure-bubble/]. These contracts, CoreWeave bulls believe, will ultimately outweigh its debt obligations.
this story originally appeared on https://fortune.com/2025/11/10/coreweave-earnings-infrastructure-debt-ai-bubble/.
date:2025-11-11 01:22:00