Neocloud provider CoreWeave’s revenue more than doubled in the second quarter, totaling $2.58 billion and exceeding analyst targets thanks to rising demand for its AI infrastructure services.
“Our near-term capacity remains virtually sold out,” CEO Michael Intrator said in a call with analysts on Tuesday.
Coreweave said its backlog of sales – deals that have not yet been billed – rose 246% YoY to $104.2 billion in the second quarter. And the company noted that the figure excludes about $25 billion in net new customer signings that were added at the start of the third quarter.
In response, the stock rose more than 14% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after a volatile year in which share prices fluctuated wildly as investors overcome fears of an AI bubble and huge capital spending in AI infrastructure.
Coreweave is among several so-called neocloud providers that build and operate data centers to run AI models and compete with established cloud computing giants such as Amazon web service, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
The debate over overinvesting in AI intensified the day before chipmaker Coreweave announced its earnings Nvidia (which owns nearly 13% of CoreWeave) announced on Monday a plan to mobilize $500 billion in funding for AI infrastructure in collaboration with Apollo Global Management Inc., Blackstone Inc., BlackRock Inc. and Brookfield Asset management. Shares of Nvidia rose about 1% after the funding announcement and rose slightly after CoreWeave reported its results.
Intrator said in its earnings call that the prices CoreWeave is charging for access to Nvidia’s leading Blackwell and Vera Rubin chips are “reaching new highs,” while even older chip stocks are being rented out at prices last seen years ago. Revenue rose 112% to $2.58 billion in the quarter, slightly above the $2.56 billion estimated by analysts and Coreweave
Despite strong demand, Coreweave lost $626 million in the second quarter, driven by a net interest expense of $640 million, compared to a net loss of $260 million a year ago. Excluding stock compensation costs and other items, Coreweave said it had adjusted operating income of $128 million in the second quarter.
Concerns about the lifespan of older inventory, particularly the expensive Nvidia GPUs in Coreweave’s data centers, were partly why some investors became less bullish on CoreWeave. The company has $46.7 billion worth of property and equipment on its balance sheet, most of which consists of GPUs, which some fear could quickly lose value in favor of newer versions.
Company executives pointed to AI “inference” — where Coreweave Compute runs AI models rather than training them — as a way to get the most value from its investments in AI chips and other infrastructure. “The market is very deep,” Intrator said. “We believe we have an embedded advantage because of our control over the silicon, and we believe we will be very successful in this market over time.”
Intrator also tried to downplay concerns raised by the local opposition Moratoriums on data center buildings would slow CoreWeave’s progress. At the moment, 18 states have either restricted or are considering significant restrictions on data center construction. Intrator said it will impact the locations where data centers are built, but it will not impact demand. He said companies should work with local communities and offer benefits such as paying for network upgrades to ensure costs do not fall on local residents and to ensure long-term job growth. CoreWeave is aiming for an output of eight gigawatts by 2030.
“None of these numbers will be affected by the regulatory setbacks; as of today we are satisfied with that,” said Intrator.