CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) revenue jumps 168% but quarterly loss widens

What happened

CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWV) reported third-quarter revenue of $3.66 billion, up 168.2% from a year earlier, and raised its 2026 revenue guidance.

Revenue was $1.37 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Operating income rose to $207 million from $52 million. The net loss widened to $709 million, or $1.27 a share, from $110 million, or $0.22 a share.

CoreWeave now expects full-year revenue of $13.0 billion to $13.3 billion. It also raised adjusted operating income guidance to $1.27 billion to $1.38 billion, up 26% at the midpoint from prior guidance.

Capital spending rose too. CoreWeave expects 2026 capital expenditures of $37 billion to $39 billion. The prior range started at $35 billion. The release says the company expects to deploy infrastructure and deliver it to customers sooner than planned.

Key numbers

Metric	Latest	Change	Source
Third-quarter revenue	$3.66 billion	from $1.37 billion, +168.2%	Calculated from SEC 8-K
Third-quarter net loss	-$709 million	from -$110 million, -$599 million	Calculated from SEC 8-K
Adjusted operating income margin	10%	from 16%, -6.0 percentage points	Calculated from SEC 8-K
2026 revenue guidance	$13.0 billion to $13.3 billion		SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1
2026 capital expenditures guidance (low end versus prior low end)	$37 billion to $39 billion	+$2 billion	Calculated from SEC 8-K
Revenue backlog at Sept. 30, 2026	$132.5 billion		SEC 8-K Exhibit 99.1

Read more: CoreWeave (CRWV) company research

Why it matters

OptimistFi's view is that CoreWeave is worth owning only if its specialist AI cloud stays a fast, available path to large-scale GPU capacity. Revenue backlog was approximately $132.5 billion at Sept. 30. That backlog depends on CoreWeave delivering the service under committed customer contracts.

The company added more than 200 MW of active power in the quarter to reach over 1.7 GW. It says that doubled its active footprint since the start of the year. Total contracted power grew more than 900 MW to over 4.6 GW.

The margin evidence is mixed. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.26 billion, a 62% margin against 61% a year earlier. Adjusted operating income was $379 million, a 10% margin against 16% in the third quarter of 2025.

Chief executive Michael Intrator said adjusted operating margins reached double digits a quarter ahead of plan. Even so, the margin has not returned to its level of a year earlier.

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What the growth costs

Net interest expense was $846 million, up from $310 million a year earlier. It outweighed the quarter's operating income. That is why a 168.2% revenue increase still produced a larger net loss.

Cash from operations was $1.98 billion in the quarter. Purchases of property and equipment were $9.44 billion. By OptimistFi's tally, recourse and non-recourse debt combined reached $46.87 billion at Sept. 30, up from $21.37 billion at Dec. 31, 2025.

The release lists the funding sources. CoreWeave raised approximately $4.2 billion through an upsized offering of convertible senior notes. It closed the $2.6 billion DDTL 5.5 Facility, its first financing facility designed to support shorter-duration customer contracts. It also set up an at-the-market equity program for up to 35 million Class A shares.

Intrator pointed to approximately $9 billion in customer prepayments and deposits expected in the next three months. These figures show debt-supported growth, the condition OptimistFi's view attaches to the stock.

What the guidance implies for the fourth quarter

Nine-month revenue was $8.31 billion. By OptimistFi's calculation, the full-year range leaves $4.69 billion to $4.99 billion for the fourth quarter.

Nine-month adjusted operating income was $528 million. Full-year guidance therefore implies $747 million to $847 million in the final quarter. That is well above the third quarter's adjusted operating income.

CoreWeave also raised its annualized run-rate revenue guidance to $20 billion to $21 billion to exit 2026. The release defines that figure as December 2026 revenue multiplied by 12.

What's next

Fourth-quarter 2026 results will test the guidance. CoreWeave expects interest expense of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for the quarter, higher than the third-quarter charge. It also expects more than 1.85 GW of active power at year-end.

Adjusted operating income near the implied range would support the margin case. Interest expense above the guided range, or active power below 1.85 GW, would weaken it.

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