Why CoreWeave Stock Rallied Over 22% on Friday

Aditya Raghunath5 minute read
Reviewed by: Thomas Richmond
Last updated Dec 22, 2025

Key Stats for CoreWeave Stock

  • Price Change for CoreWeave stock: 22.6%
  • $CRWV Share Price as of Dec. 19: $83
  • 52-Week High: $187
  • $CRWV Stock Price Target: $128

Now Live: Discover how much upside your favorite stocks could have using TIKR’s new Valuation Model (It’s free)>>>

What Happened?

CoreWeave (CRWV) stock exploded 22.64% on Friday after Citigroup initiated coverage on the AI infrastructure giant with a “buy” rating, even though the investment bank cut its price target to $135 from $192. That still implies 62% upside from the current price.

The AI data center company reported strong third-quarter bookings, up 85% quarter-over-quarter and 270% year-over-year.

But the stock has been under pressure recently due to supply constraints and power capacity delays that pushed revenue and capital spending from Q4 into the first quarter of 2026.

Citigroup analysts said recent management discussions indicate CoreWeave’s capacity and bookings will continue expanding in Q4, which could support growth acceleration in 2026.

The firm also noted that over 60% of CoreWeave’s revenue comes from investment-grade customers, and the company plans to announce a new credit facility in the first half of next year to reduce its cost of capital.

CoreWeave Stock Revenue and EBITDA Estimates (TIKR)

CoreWeave runs data centers packed with Nvidia GPUs and sells that computing power to AI labs and hyperscalers training large AI models.

The business has seen explosive demand, with third-quarter revenue hitting $1.365 billion, up 134% year-over-year.

Even more impressive, the company’s revenue backlog ballooned to $55.6 billion as of September 30, nearly double the $30.1 billion reported just three months earlier.

See analysts’ growth forecasts and price targets for CoreWeave stock (It’s free!) >>>

What the Market Is Telling Us About CoreWeave Stock

The rally in CRWV stock shows investors are betting big on AI infrastructure despite some serious execution risks.

The company’s massive backlog suggests customers are desperate for GPU capacity, which is a positive sign for future revenue.

Notably, revenue growth is already decelerating, dropping from 207% year-over-year in Q2 to 134% in Q3.

While still impressive, this slowdown matters because investors are valuing CoreWeave on how long it can maintain breakneck growth.

CoreWeave posted a $110.1 million net loss in Q3 despite $51.9 million in operating income. The culprit? Interest expense of $310.6 million, up from $104.4 million a year earlier.

CRWV is burning through cash to finance its expansion, spending $1.9 billion on capital expenditures in Q3 alone and guiding to $12 billion to $14 billion in capex for full-year 2025.

To fund this growth, CoreWeave has secured $14 billion in debt and equity transactions year-to-date. That means the company is either taking on more debt (increasing interest costs) or diluting shareholders by selling stock.

Management flagged that a third-party data center developer is behind schedule, which is hurting the Q4 outlook. These delays show how dependent CoreWeave is on external partners to deliver capacity on time.

At a price-to-sales ratio of almost 10x, CRWV stock still looks expensive, as it remains unprofitable and faces soaring interest costs.

The 62% upside to Citigroup’s price target is enticing, but the path to get there requires flawless execution on a massive buildout while managing an increasingly heavy debt load.

For investors willing to bet on AI infrastructure, CoreWeave offers exposure to one of the fastest-growing areas of the market.

But the risks are significant, given that it needs to bring new sites online on schedule, fill them with contracted demand, and do all of this without its cost of capital rising faster than operating income.

Friday’s rally suggests the market is optimistic about CoreWeave’s ability to execute. But with shares down 38% year-to-date and still trading at a premium valuation despite mounting losses, waiting for a more attractive entry point might be the smarter play.

Estimate a company’s fair value instantly (Free with TIKR) >>>

How Much Upside Does CoreWeave Stock Have From Here?

With TIKR’s new Valuation Model tool, you can estimate a stock’s potential share price in under a minute.

All it takes is three simple inputs:

  1. Revenue Growth
  2.  Operating Margins
  3.  Exit P/E Multiple

If you’re not sure what to enter, TIKR automatically fills in each input using analysts’ consensus estimates, giving you a quick, reliable starting point.

From there, TIKR calculates the potential share price and total returns under Bull, Base, and Bear scenarios so you can quickly see whether a stock looks undervalued or overvalued.

See a stock’s true value in under 60 seconds (Free with TIKR) >>>

Looking for New Opportunities?

Disclaimer:

Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!

Join thousands of investors worldwide who use TIKR to supercharge their investment analysis.

Sign Up for FREENo credit card required