CoreWeave (CRWV) shares have come under severe pressure as investor concerns over the neocloud company’s balance sheet continue to intensify in 2026.
The stock lost roughly one-quarter of its value in a single week, extending a broader decline of more than 65% from its peak shortly after its IPO in March 2025.
CoreWeave operates 51 active data centers and has taken on significant debt to fund an ambitious build-out aimed at powering the artificial intelligence revolution.
Wall Street analysts project the company’s total debt will grow to $47.6 billion by the end of 2026, according to data from Visible Alpha.
With projected adjusted EBITDA of approximately $7.6 billion by year-end, the company is on track for a gross leverage ratio of nearly 6.3x, a figure that has rattled markets.
CoreWeave’s overall credit rating sits at B+ with S&P Credit Ratings, firmly in junk bond territory, which compounds concerns about the cost of servicing that debt load.
The yield to maturity on its 9.625% bond due in 2032 has climbed to 14.8%, while its 9.75% bond due in 2031 is sitting at around 14.9%, reflecting the risk premium investors are demanding.
Research firm Gartner added fuel to the fire by warning that 80% of neoclouds could disappear by 2030, flagging that over $3.5 trillion in AI infrastructure spending could be exposed to impairment that year.
That warning coincided with hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index data, raising fears of additional federal rate increases that would make CoreWeave’s massive debt pile even more burdensome.
CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator pushed back against the market reaction in an internal memo, telling staff the market was acting “irrationally” and that the company’s contract backlog was large enough to cover its obligations.
Key customers include Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Anthropic, giving CoreWeave a significant revenue base if those commitments hold through the current period of uncertainty.
Analyst consensus estimates project adjusted EBITDA growing to nearly $16.9 billion in 2027 and surpassing $27.6 billion in 2028, suggesting a viable path forward if AI spending holds firm.
However, Paul Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital Markets, described CoreWeave’s balance sheet as “relatively bad” compared to its neocloud peers, citing heavier borrowing and a larger data center pipeline.
CoreWeave has never turned a profit, according to data compiled by LSEG, leaving it with limited internal resources to absorb any disruption in AI capital markets.
Investors increasingly view CoreWeave as one of the riskier plays in the AI sector, particularly when compared to hyperscalers like Microsoft that carry far stronger balance sheets to weather a potential funding freeze.
