AI-focused cloud provider CoreWeave extended its streak of record quarterly revenue on Tuesday, yet escalating capital expenditure and a heavy debt load are intensifying debate over how long the breakneck expansion can last.
Shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) surged more than 15% in trading after the company reported second-quarter revenue of $2.58 billion, edging past the $2.55 billion consensus estimate from analysts polled by FactSet. Adjusted loss per share narrowed to $1.03, better than the $1.20 loss Wall Street had forecast. The results mark the fifth consecutive quarter in which the firm, which buys Nvidia’s advanced GPUs in bulk and leases computing capacity to AI developers such as Microsoft and OpenAI, has reset its own revenue record.
Demand signals remain remarkably strong. CoreWeave’s sales backlog nearly doubled from November to hit $104 billion, reflecting the relentless build-out of AI infrastructure. The company also disclosed that it had added $25 billion in net new customer commitments early in the current quarter, none of which was reflected in the results.
The outlook was lifted across the board. Third-quarter revenue is expected to land between $3.45 billion and $3.60 billion, with adjusted operating income of $200 million to $260 million. Full-year revenue guidance was raised to $12.4 billion to $13.2 billion from a previous range of $12 billion to $13 billion, and the adjusted operating income target was boosted to $960 million to $1.15 billion. Management also raised its 2026 exit annualized run-rate revenue target to $18.5 billion to $19.5 billion.
A breakout growth driver is managed inference. Annual recurring revenue from the service rocketed from roughly $1 million at launch to more than $100 million within several months. CoreWeave expects at least $250 million in managed-inference ARR by the end of 2026, underscoring a broadening of AI workloads from training toward inference.
To capture that demand, the company is spending aggressively. Capital expenditure jumped to $9.4 billion in the second quarter from $6.8 billion in the prior three months, and full-year capex guidance was hiked to a range of $35 billion to $39 billion, up from $31 billion to $35 billion. A new $2.6 billion loan facility was secured to fund additional chip purchases and infrastructure. On a call with analysts, executives noted that 500 megawatts of new data-center capacity were brought online during the quarter, faster than initially projected.
That furious pace carries a mounting financial burden. As of the end of the first quarter, CoreWeave held $25.1 billion in debt and $10.1 billion in operating-lease liabilities. Net interest expense totaled $536 million in that period, pushing the company to a net loss of $740 million and leaving adjusted operating margin at just 1%.
Bernstein analysts acknowledged the results as “the strongest print CRWV has delivered,” but highlighted that the increase in capex guidance outpaced the upgrades to revenue and profit. The firm maintained its Underperform rating and cautioned that the growth trajectory could shift abruptly.
With a $104 billion order book and capital spending soaring in tandem, CoreWeave has cemented its position as a leading AI infrastructure supplier. Whether it can sustain the sprint without stumbling under the weight of its own expansion is the question now gripping the market.
