CoreWeave officially entered the public market on March 27, 2025, but not with the surge its backers may have anticipated. The AI infrastructure company priced its IPO at $40 per share, below the expected range of $42 to $46.
Alongside the reduced price, CoreWeave also downsized the offering from 49 million to 37.5 million shares, bringing in about $1.5 billion and landing at a valuation of roughly $23 billion on a fully diluted basis. This was a step down from earlier projections of $32 billion.
While still one of the biggest recent tech IPOs, the outcome indicates a shift in investor appetite. The AI infrastructure sector may still generate headlines, but investor enthusiasm is no longer blind. CoreWeave’s public debut became a test case for how much risk the market is willing to absorb from capital-intensive cloud providers.
Nvidia Anchors the Deal, Microsoft Walks Away
Heavyweights like Nvidia and OpenAI provided key support. Nvidia, already a 6% stakeholder in CoreWeave, anchored the IPO with a $250 million share order at the offering price.
Before the IPO, OpenAI committed to a $11.9 billion, five-year deal to expand its compute infrastructure with CoreWeave and separately purchased $350 million in shares through a private placement tied to the IPO.
But this institutional backing doesn’t erase the cracks forming beneath the surface. OpenAI, while deepening ties with CoreWeave, is also moving toward diversifying its compute options, including exploring partnerships beyond Microsoft Azure.
Adding more complexity, Microsoft—which previously accounted for 62% of CoreWeave’s revenue—declined to move forward with a $12 billion infrastructure contract option.
The decision came ahead of the IPO and reportedly stemmed from internal concerns over missed deadlines and delivery reliability. CoreWeave, in response, issued a firm denial: “We pride ourselves in our client partnerships and there have been no contract cancellations or walking away from commitments. Any claim to the contrary is false and misleading.”
Revenue Growth and Rising Financial Strain
Financially, CoreWeave has scaled at a breakneck pace. Revenue leapt from $228.9 million in 2023 to $1.9 billion in 2024, based on details from the company’s IPO filing with the SEC. However, that growth came at a steep cost: a net loss of $863 million in 2024, driven by infrastructure buildout, rapid hiring, and operational expansion.
CoreWeave operates primarily on a leasing model, acquiring data center capacity and GPU infrastructure through short-term agreements instead of owning hardware outright.
While this allows for fast deployment and flexibility, it also creates massive liabilities. The company carries approximately $8 billion in debt and faces an additional $2.6 billion in lease obligations. Critics have likened this financial profile to early-stage WeWork, raising red flags about sustainability if growth were to slow.
Perhaps more concerning for public investors, 77% of 2024 revenue came from just two clients—Microsoft and Nvidia—according to the regulatory filing. With Microsoft pulling back and OpenAI diversifying its infrastructure stack, that revenue concentration presents serious risk.
Hardware Risk in a Shifting AI Landscape
CoreWeave’s infrastructure relies heavily on Nvidia’s Hopper-based GPUs, which were cutting-edge when adopted but are already being overtaken by newer models. In March 2025, Nvidia introduced the Blackwell GPU architecture, promising improved AI inference performance and energy efficiency.
For CoreWeave, that lag presents a two-fold challenge: the depreciation of its current GPU inventory and the risk of falling behind competitors deploying newer, more efficient silicon. While the company has plans to transition, it’s not yet clear how quickly or smoothly that migration can occur—especially with limited availability of next-gen hardware.
At the same time, industry trends are putting pressure on third-party GPU resellers like CoreWeave. Microsoft has partnered with AMD to develop its own AI chips. Amazon and Google have long pursued custom silicon strategies. As more hyperscalers move compute in-house, CoreWeave’s reliance on Nvidia’s ecosystem could become a competitive liability, not an advantage.
IPO as a Market Signal
CoreWeave’s IPO wasn’t just about raising money—it was a moment of truth for public market sentiment on AI infrastructure plays. With client concentration, technology depreciation, and debt stacking up, investor caution appears to have outweighed the AI optimism that’s been dominating headlines for the past two years.
Questions about CoreWeave’s sustainability were already circulating before the pricing announcement. Now that the IPO is complete, the company will have to navigate those concerns under public scrutiny.
Whether CoreWeave can adapt to a changing hardware cycle, diversify its customer base, and manage its debt load remains to be seen. But its subdued debut suggests one thing clearly: public investors are done chasing the AI story on faith alone. They want to see the infrastructure players prove they can build more than hype.
