CoreWeave's $35 Billion Debt Load Makes Stock Untouchable Despite Capacity Surge

Earnings
โดย 24/7 Wall St.·US·Read original
Summary · why it matters

CoreWeave's data center capacity is exploding, but its $35 billion debt load still makes the stock untouchable for most investors. The company scaled active data center capacity from roughly 70 megawatts at the end of 2023 to about 1.5 gigawatts by mid-2026, with management targeting more than 1.8 gigawatts by year-end and 3.2 gigawatts by the close of 2027. Its revenue backlog stood at $104.2 billion after the second quarter of 2026, exceeding its market capitalization and reflecting multi-year take-or-pay style contracts with major AI and hyperscale customers. However, CoreWeave ended the second quarter of 2026 with roughly $35 billion in total debt, and interest expense alone reached $640 million in the quarter, with annual interest costs on track to approach or surpass $3 billion. Free cash flow remains deeply negative because capital expenditures hit $9.4 billion in a single quarter and full-year 2026 guidance was raised to $35 billion to $39 billion. Peers Nebius and IREN offer similar AI infrastructure exposure with far lower debt loads and greater reliance on customer prepayments than CoreWeave carries.

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