Shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) climbed approximately 5.4% to $125.43 in premarket trading on Tuesday, as investors reacted to a significant commitment from Meta Platforms and looked ahead to the company's upcoming quarterly earnings report.
Meta's Billion Cloud Deal
Meta disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has committed roughly $21 billion for cloud capacity from CoreWeave through the year 2032. The agreement, finalized on March 31, covers new computing capacity and an exercised option for additional services through April 2032, though it remains subject to delivery, service availability, and termination terms.
CoreWeave stated that the Meta deal involves dedicated capacity across multiple data center sites and includes some of the first deployments of Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin AI hardware platform. CEO Michael Intrator commented, "This is another example that leading companies are choosing CoreWeave's AI cloud to run their most demanding workloads."
Backlog Growth and Analyst Optimism
Analysts at Jefferies highlighted that recent contracts with Meta, Anthropic, and Jane Street could push CoreWeave's remaining performance obligations (RPO) above $95 billion, a significant increase from $66.8 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. The backlog represents revenue under contract but not yet recognized, and its growth has become a key focus for investors.
Jefferies analyst Brent Thill raised his price target on CoreWeave to $160 from $120, maintaining a Buy rating. He cited fresh deal momentum and strong demand for advanced AI workloads. However, Thill cautioned that the company's ability to deliver on revenue, margins, and active power capacity remains under close scrutiny.
Earnings Preview and Financial Performance
CoreWeave is scheduled to report its first-quarter results after the market close on Thursday. In 2025, the company generated $5.13 billion in revenue, up sharply from $1.92 billion the previous year, but it recorded a net loss of $1.17 billion. As of December 31, the revenue backlog stood at $66.8 billion.
The company's capital expenditure plans are aggressive, with projections of $30 billion to $35 billion in 2026, compared to $14.9 billion planned for 2025. CEO Intrator told Reuters that CoreWeave chose to "build faster," accepting near-term margin pressure to accelerate growth.
Risks and Market Context
Customer concentration remains a concern. Last week, several AI-related stocks declined after a report raised doubts about OpenAI's growth prospects and its spending on computing power. Todd Schoenberger, Chief Investment Officer at CrossCheck Management, noted, "Weakness in one AI company can cause a ripple effect across the board, whether warranted or not."
CoreWeave operates as a raw AI compute provider, positioning it differently from platforms like Snowflake or the cloud divisions of Microsoft and Google. While its focus on Nvidia GPU clusters gives it a niche advantage, it also faces competition from well-capitalized giants.
Ultimately, the stock's recent surge hinges on confidence that the backlog exists, can be financed, and will translate into actual revenue. Thursday's earnings call will be a critical test of whether CoreWeave can convert Meta-driven demand into tangible results without exacerbating concerns about debt, margins, or customer concentration.
