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CRWV Stock Beats Industry Returns in a Year: Buy, Hold or Fold in 2026?
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Key Takeaways
CRWV shares rise 119% in a year, surpassing tech peers as investors bet on its AI cloud infrastructure growth.
CoreWeave secured multi-billion-dollar contracts with OpenAI and Meta, pushing revenue backlog past $55B.
CRWV trimmed 2025 guidance due to supply delays, while high CapEx and rising debt remain key risks to watch.
In the booming AI infrastructure market, CoreWeave, Inc. (CRWV - Free Report) has emerged as one of the most notable performers. Over the past year, its shares have climbed 119%, outpacing the Zacks Internet-Software Market’s gain of 4.9% as well as the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the S&P 500 Composite’s growth of 30.7% and 22%. CRWV currently trades at $87.48, well beneath its 52-week high of $187.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The stock has outperformed the tech giant Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , which rose 13.3% during the period, while Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS - Free Report) , another emerging AI infrastructure player and CRWV’s tough rival, has soared 185.8%. MSFT designs and sells PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, other intelligent devices and related accessories. Through Azure, Microsoft offers cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services, platforms and content. Like CRWV, Nebius is focused on supplying GPU-based AI cloud infrastructure and computing power to developers and enterprises, competing in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure space.
The rally reflects strong investor confidence in the company’s growth outlook, supported by improving fundamentals and favorable industry trends. However, after such a sharp run-up, investors are now faced with a critical question: Will CRWV still offer attractive upside in 2026, or is the recent outperformance already priced in? Let’s unpack this rise and explore what it means for the year ahead.
CRWV Accelerating the Next Phase of AI Innovation
One of the biggest pillars of CoreWeave’s growth story has been its multi-billion-dollar contracts with leading AI players. In September, it expanded its partnership with OpenAI to support the training of next-generation AI models, reinforcing its position as a key cloud provider for high-intensity AI workloads. The new deal, valued at up to $6.5 billion, brings its total OpenAI contract value to about $22.4 billion, following agreements signed in March ($11.9 billion) and May ($4 billion) 2025. In October, the company also secured a major cloud capacity agreement with Meta Platforms, under which Meta will pay up to $14.2 billion through December 2031, with options to significantly expand capacity through 2032. These long-term, high-visibility contracts provide a predictable revenue pipeline.
Expansion with other hyperscalers, enterprises and government labs continues to extend its revenue backlog, which swelled to more than $55 billion by late 2025. It has forged strong ties with key players such as NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , becoming the first cloud provider to offer NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition instances for general availability. Recently, it announced plans to integrate NVIDIA Rubin technology into its AI cloud platform. Expected to be among the first cloud providers to deploy Rubin in the second half of 2026, CRWV is positioning itself at the forefront of agentic AI, reasoning models and large-scale inference workloads.
CRWV is gaining strong enterprise traction, with CrowdStrike using CoreWeave for AI cybersecurity agents and Rakuten leveraging the platform to enhance its visual language models. The company also expanded with major customers, including a top software design platform and a large U.S. telco. In December, it strengthened its position in the high-performance AI cloud market with the expansion of Mission Control, its unified operational standard, harnessed by enterprise tech teams to power large-scale, production-grade AI workloads.
The company has been expanding its data centers aggressively, with hundreds of thousands of GPUs deployed across dozens of facilities in the United States and Europe. It has added hundreds of megawatts of active power infrastructure to meet the needs of AI workloads, and contracted gigawatts of future capacity to prevent future supply squeezes. With more than 1 GW of contracted capacity yet to come online and new compute deals that broadened its customer base, the company is well-positioned for continued growth.
Apart from organic growth, CoreWeave is expanding vertically and horizontally through strategic acquisitions. In October, it agreed to acquire Monolith AI Limited, a leader in applying AI to complex physics and engineering problems, to enhance its AI platform and accelerate R&D, product design and efficiency for customers. The deal builds on CoreWeave’s earlier strategic acquisitions, including OpenPipe (reinforcement learning) and Weights & Biases, which strengthen its end-to-end AI development capabilities. However, its proposed $9 billion purchase of Core Scientific was canceled after stakeholders rejected the deal.
CRWV’s Risks Investors Should Watch Out for
Despite strong demand, CoreWeave continues to face supply-chain constraints, with AI cloud demand outpacing available capacity. Delays in powered-shell deliveries are expected to weigh on fourth-quarter performance, prompting management to trim its 2025 outlook. The company now forecasts 2025 revenue of $5.05–$5.15 billion (down from $5.15–$5.35 billion) and adjusted operating income of $690–$720 million compared with the prior estimated $800–$830 million.
Leverage remains a key concern, with 2025 interest expense projected at $1.21–$1.25 billion as debt rises to fund demand-driven CapEx. While lower funding costs provide some relief, the interest burden remains heavy. Capital intensity also stays elevated, with 2025 CapEx now guided at $12–$14 billion, reflecting spending deferrals rather than true savings, as much of the outlay has shifted from late 2025 into early 2026, prolonging near-term cash flow pressure.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Looking ahead, risks are set to increase as management expects 2026 CapEx to more than double from 2025 levels, significantly raising capital demands. While these investments may bolster CoreWeave’s competitive position, they also amplify concerns around execution risk, balance sheet strain and the sustainability of its hypergrowth strategy.
Estimate Revision Trend for CRWV
CRWV’s estimates revisions are on an upward trajectory currently. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings for 2025 has been revised north 1.4% over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation Vulnerabilities
CRWV stock is not so cheap, as its Value Style Score of D suggests a stretched valuation at this moment. In terms of Price/Book, CRWV’s shares are trading at 8.72X, higher than the Internet Software industry’s 5.73X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Investors Action
CRWV’s rally reflects the company’s positioning at the heart of the AI infrastructure boom. With multi-billion-dollar contracts, purpose-built GPU cloud capabilities and expanding data center capacity, it has become one of the most talked-about AI growth plays in the market. However, high growth comes with high stakes, such as debt, customer concentration and execution headwinds, which remain real considerations. If the company can navigate these while continuing to capture AI spend, CoreWeave could be one of the standout performers in 2026 and beyond.
Image: Bigstock
CRWV Stock Beats Industry Returns in a Year: Buy, Hold or Fold in 2026?
Key Takeaways
In the booming AI infrastructure market, CoreWeave, Inc. (CRWV - Free Report) has emerged as one of the most notable performers. Over the past year, its shares have climbed 119%, outpacing the Zacks Internet-Software Market’s gain of 4.9% as well as the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the S&P 500 Composite’s growth of 30.7% and 22%. CRWV currently trades at $87.48, well beneath its 52-week high of $187.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The stock has outperformed the tech giant Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , which rose 13.3% during the period, while Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS - Free Report) , another emerging AI infrastructure player and CRWV’s tough rival, has soared 185.8%. MSFT designs and sells PCs, tablets, gaming and entertainment consoles, other intelligent devices and related accessories. Through Azure, Microsoft offers cloud-based solutions that provide customers with software, services, platforms and content. Like CRWV, Nebius is focused on supplying GPU-based AI cloud infrastructure and computing power to developers and enterprises, competing in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure space.
The rally reflects strong investor confidence in the company’s growth outlook, supported by improving fundamentals and favorable industry trends. However, after such a sharp run-up, investors are now faced with a critical question: Will CRWV still offer attractive upside in 2026, or is the recent outperformance already priced in? Let’s unpack this rise and explore what it means for the year ahead.
CRWV Accelerating the Next Phase of AI Innovation
One of the biggest pillars of CoreWeave’s growth story has been its multi-billion-dollar contracts with leading AI players. In September, it expanded its partnership with OpenAI to support the training of next-generation AI models, reinforcing its position as a key cloud provider for high-intensity AI workloads. The new deal, valued at up to $6.5 billion, brings its total OpenAI contract value to about $22.4 billion, following agreements signed in March ($11.9 billion) and May ($4 billion) 2025. In October, the company also secured a major cloud capacity agreement with Meta Platforms, under which Meta will pay up to $14.2 billion through December 2031, with options to significantly expand capacity through 2032. These long-term, high-visibility contracts provide a predictable revenue pipeline.
Expansion with other hyperscalers, enterprises and government labs continues to extend its revenue backlog, which swelled to more than $55 billion by late 2025. It has forged strong ties with key players such as NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) , becoming the first cloud provider to offer NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition instances for general availability. Recently, it announced plans to integrate NVIDIA Rubin technology into its AI cloud platform. Expected to be among the first cloud providers to deploy Rubin in the second half of 2026, CRWV is positioning itself at the forefront of agentic AI, reasoning models and large-scale inference workloads.
CRWV is gaining strong enterprise traction, with CrowdStrike using CoreWeave for AI cybersecurity agents and Rakuten leveraging the platform to enhance its visual language models. The company also expanded with major customers, including a top software design platform and a large U.S. telco. In December, it strengthened its position in the high-performance AI cloud market with the expansion of Mission Control, its unified operational standard, harnessed by enterprise tech teams to power large-scale, production-grade AI workloads.
Rapid Infrastructure Expansion & Acquisitions Favor CRWV
The company has been expanding its data centers aggressively, with hundreds of thousands of GPUs deployed across dozens of facilities in the United States and Europe. It has added hundreds of megawatts of active power infrastructure to meet the needs of AI workloads, and contracted gigawatts of future capacity to prevent future supply squeezes. With more than 1 GW of contracted capacity yet to come online and new compute deals that broadened its customer base, the company is well-positioned for continued growth.
Apart from organic growth, CoreWeave is expanding vertically and horizontally through strategic acquisitions. In October, it agreed to acquire Monolith AI Limited, a leader in applying AI to complex physics and engineering problems, to enhance its AI platform and accelerate R&D, product design and efficiency for customers. The deal builds on CoreWeave’s earlier strategic acquisitions, including OpenPipe (reinforcement learning) and Weights & Biases, which strengthen its end-to-end AI development capabilities. However, its proposed $9 billion purchase of Core Scientific was canceled after stakeholders rejected the deal.
CRWV’s Risks Investors Should Watch Out for
Despite strong demand, CoreWeave continues to face supply-chain constraints, with AI cloud demand outpacing available capacity. Delays in powered-shell deliveries are expected to weigh on fourth-quarter performance, prompting management to trim its 2025 outlook. The company now forecasts 2025 revenue of $5.05–$5.15 billion (down from $5.15–$5.35 billion) and adjusted operating income of $690–$720 million compared with the prior estimated $800–$830 million.
Leverage remains a key concern, with 2025 interest expense projected at $1.21–$1.25 billion as debt rises to fund demand-driven CapEx. While lower funding costs provide some relief, the interest burden remains heavy. Capital intensity also stays elevated, with 2025 CapEx now guided at $12–$14 billion, reflecting spending deferrals rather than true savings, as much of the outlay has shifted from late 2025 into early 2026, prolonging near-term cash flow pressure.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Looking ahead, risks are set to increase as management expects 2026 CapEx to more than double from 2025 levels, significantly raising capital demands. While these investments may bolster CoreWeave’s competitive position, they also amplify concerns around execution risk, balance sheet strain and the sustainability of its hypergrowth strategy.
Estimate Revision Trend for CRWV
CRWV’s estimates revisions are on an upward trajectory currently. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings for 2025 has been revised north 1.4% over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation Vulnerabilities
CRWV stock is not so cheap, as its Value Style Score of D suggests a stretched valuation at this moment. In terms of Price/Book, CRWV’s shares are trading at 8.72X, higher than the Internet Software industry’s 5.73X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Investors Action
CRWV’s rally reflects the company’s positioning at the heart of the AI infrastructure boom. With multi-billion-dollar contracts, purpose-built GPU cloud capabilities and expanding data center capacity, it has become one of the most talked-about AI growth plays in the market. However, high growth comes with high stakes, such as debt, customer concentration and execution headwinds, which remain real considerations. If the company can navigate these while continuing to capture AI spend, CoreWeave could be one of the standout performers in 2026 and beyond.
With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), CRWV appears to be treading in the middle of the road, and new investors could be better off if they trade with caution. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.