CRWV Analysis: CoreWeave's 18% Post-Earnings Plunge Exposes the High-Wire Act of AI Infrastructure Spending
CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWV) dropped 18% on February 27, 2026, after reporting fourth-quarter results that missed investor expectations on both the bottom line and forward guidance. The AI infrastructure and GPU cloud provider posted Q4 revenue of $1.57 billion — slightly above consensus — but a net loss of $452 million and plans to double capital expenditure sent shares tumbling from $97.63 to below $80. The selloff is the latest chapter in a volatile first year as a public company. CoreWeave, which went public in March 2025 at $40 per share, surged to $187 by mid-2025 on the wave of AI infrastructure enthusiasm before giving back more than half those gains. At $79.88, the company commands a $40.6 billion market cap — a figure that prices in extraordinary growth but leaves little room for execution missteps. For investors trying to separate the AI hype cycle from genuine infrastructure buildout, CoreWeave presents one of the market's most consequential questions: can a company burning $7 billion in free cash flow per year build the GPU cloud that powers the next generation of artificial intelligence — and do it profitably?