CoreWeave experienced a significant drop in shares, plummeting 13% on Tuesday, following revelations from CEO Mike Intrator regarding delays at a third-party data center provider. These delays have impacted the company’s full-year revenue guidance, as outlined in its latest earnings report.
During an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Intrator stated that while most aspects of the quarter aligned with expectations, the delays at a specific data center were a major setback. He specified that this issue was linked to a “singular data center provider,” clarifying misconceptions that it involved multiple complexes. CNBC commentator Jim Cramer scrutinized these claims, noting that the delays appear to affect multiple sites in Texas, Oklahoma, and North Carolina, all of which are connected to Core Scientific, a company CoreWeave had previously attempted to acquire for $9 billion. However, Core Scientific shareholders ultimately rejected this bid, resulting in a 7% decline in its shares on the same day.
In CoreWeave’s quarterly earnings call, analyst Mark Murphy from JPMorgan Securities questioned whether the delays were indeed related to Core Scientific. Intrator did not confirm the name of the third-party provider, although he suggested that only one data center was causing problems, despite company CFO Nitin Agrawal later referring to a “single provider, data center partner.” When asked about the number of affected sites, CoreWeave declined to offer specifics, referring back to Intrator’s earlier statements.
Despite the setbacks, CoreWeave reported strong third-quarter earnings, generating $1.36 billion in revenue, a substantial increase of 134% from the previous year’s $583.9 million. However, the company has revised its revenue projections for 2025, now forecasting figures between $5.05 billion and $5.15 billion—lower than analysts’ average estimate of $5.29 billion.
Intrator emphasized that CoreWeave is actively addressing the delay issues, noting that employees are working daily alongside contractors and the unidentified provider to expedite processes. “It became apparent to us in Q3 that there were delays at the facility,” he acknowledged, revealing that CoreWeave deployed additional resources to help rectify the situation.
Intrator assured analysts that despite the current hiccup, the company’s order backlog remains robust, and the delays should not undermine the full potential of its existing contracts. Core Scientific has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the situation.
Amidst these operational challenges, CoreWeave has been aggressively pursuing expansion opportunities in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. The company recently secured a monumental contract to supply Meta with $14.2 billion in AI cloud infrastructure, following an extension of its agreement with OpenAI valued at $22.4 billion.
