AI in action · Markets
CoreWeave's Revenue Rose 168% and Its Backlog Hit $132.5B
CoreWeave's third-quarter 2026 revenue rose 168% to $3.66 billion and its backlog reached about $132.5 billion. Shares rose about 8% after hours on November 10.
CoreWeave needed a good quarter, and it got one. The AI cloud provider reported after the close on Tuesday, November 10, that revenue rose 168% from a year earlier to $3.661 billion, above the top of its own forecast range of $3.45 billion to $3.60 billion. It raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $13.0 billion to $13.3 billion and its year-end annualised revenue run rate to $20 billion to $21 billion. The shares rose as much as 8% in extended trading after falling about 40% over the previous month, Reuters reported.
The backlog is the figure that supports the long-term case. Contracted future revenue stood at about $132.5 billion on September 30, up 138% from $55.6 billion a year earlier and above the $104 billion reported at the end of June. CoreWeave said it had more than 1.7 gigawatts of active power and more than 4.6 gigawatts under contract, including more than 1.3 gigawatts outside the US. Adjusted operating income was $379 million, and chief executive Michael Intrator said margins reached double digits a quarter ahead of plan.
The cost of growth is just as visible. Net interest expense was $846 million in the quarter, against $310 million a year earlier, and the company guided to $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for the fourth quarter. The GAAP net loss widened to $709 million from $110 million. Capital spending for 2026 is now expected at $37 billion to $39 billion, with the low end raised from $35 billion, and the company told investors it sees a path to profitability in the first half of 2028.
That combination is why the stock had been so weak. CoreWeave borrows heavily against its contracts to buy chips and build data centres, and its results now depend as much on the price of that money as on demand. Reuters reported this week that banks and credit investors have become more selective about financing AI infrastructure, and the hot October inflation report pushed Treasury yields higher on the same day CoreWeave reported.
For investors following the AI build-out, the quarter answered one question and left another open. Demand for rented computing power is still growing faster than CoreWeave can bring capacity online. Whether that demand can be financed on terms that leave room for profit is the question the next quarters, and the next interest-rate decisions, will settle.
Sources: Reuters Morning Bid via Global Banking & Finance Review — Everyone loves CoreWeave (Nov 11, 2026); Investing.com — CoreWeave Q3 2026 slides: revenue surges 168%, margins expand