Published: August 17, 2026 | Category: Earnings / Technology

Record revenue and raised guidance lifted the shares 18 per cent, but the AI cloud group now pays more in interest each quarter than it has earned in adjusted operating profit all year

CoreWeave reported second-quarter revenue of $2.58bn on Tuesday, more than double the $1.21bn it booked a year earlier, and disclosed a revenue backlog of about $104bn as of June 30. The AI cloud provider also reported a net loss of $626mn, up from $290mn, after a net interest charge of $640mn that was more than four times its adjusted operating income for the first half.

Shares rose about 18 per cent in premarket trade on Wednesday. Investors focused on the first evidence that CoreWeave’s spending on graphics processors, data centres and power contracts is starting to convert into operating leverage, and on management’s decision to raise full-year guidance.

Michael Intrator, co-founder and chief executive, said the company “reached an important inflection point this quarter as our scale began to translate into expanding operating leverage,” adding that enterprise adoption was broadening.

The revenue figure represented growth of 112 per cent year on year and a fifth consecutive quarterly record. CoreWeave lifted its 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $12.4bn to $13.2bn, from $12bn to $13bn in May, and raised its adjusted operating income guidance to between $960mn and $1.15bn from $900mn to $1.1bn. For the third quarter it guided to revenue of $3.45bn to $3.6bn.

The cost of the backlog

The same filing sets out what that growth is costing. Net interest expense reached $640mn in the quarter, against $267mn a year earlier, and $1.18bn for the six months. Adjusted operating income for the half was $149mn. On a reported basis the company swung to a $49mn operating loss from $19mn of operating income a year earlier, and adjusted operating margin narrowed to 5 per cent from 16 per cent.

Adjusted EBITDA of $1.51bn, at a 59 per cent margin, is the number management prefers. It excludes $1.39bn of depreciation and amortisation and the interest line, both of which are direct consequences of the debt-funded capital programme that produced the backlog.

Recourse debt stood at $31.4bn at June 30, split between $6.2bn current and $25.2bn non-current, alongside $3.7bn of non-recourse borrowings and $16.3bn of operating lease liabilities. Total liabilities were $72.0bn against $77.1bn of assets, leaving book equity of $5.0bn. The company spent $6.4bn on property and equipment in the quarter and $14.1bn in the first half, and guided to capital expenditure of $35bn to $39bn for the full year.

Financing activity in the quarter included a $3.1bn term loan that CoreWeave described as the first publicly syndicated delayed draw facility backed by high-performance computing infrastructure, a $1bn strategic investment from Jane Street, and more than $10bn of unsecured debt and convertible bonds. The company was added to the Nasdaq-100 index during the period.

Physical capacity expanded in step. Active power rose by close to 500MW to 1.5GW, with total contracted power of roughly 3.7GW. CoreWeave said the backlog figure excludes more than $25bn of net new customer commitments signed in the opening weeks of the third quarter.

Founder selling

Running alongside the results is a pattern of insider selling that analysts at Jefferies have been tracking. CoreWeave’s co-founders have sold roughly $2.9bn of stock through Rule 10b5-1 plans since the company listed on Nasdaq in March 2025, according to the bank’s analysis of the disclosures.

Brian Venturo, chief strategy officer, accounts for about $1.18bn of that, roughly 30 per cent of his holding. Brannin McBee, chief development officer, has sold $999mn, about 36 per cent. Intrator has sold $730mn, or about 12 per cent. The three retain roughly 18 per cent of the company between them.

Rule 10b5-1 plans allow insiders to schedule sales in advance, at a point when they do not hold material non-public information, which insulates the later trades from insider dealing claims. A CoreWeave spokesperson has said the plans were established for liquidity and portfolio diversification and that the founders remain committed to the company’s long-term growth.

Investors did not treat the disclosure as a signal on Wednesday. The more consequential question for the shares is whether the third-quarter guidance holds: CoreWeave expects interest expense of $860mn to $940mn in the current quarter against adjusted operating income of $200mn to $260mn. On that arithmetic, the gap between what the platform earns and what the balance sheet costs widens before it closes.

Sources