Why This Analyst Is Pounding the Table on ‘Pioneer’ CoreWeave Stock

CoreWeave (CRWV) has emerged as one of the biggest names in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure after starting out as a small graphics processing unit (GPU) company. As demand for high-performance computing has surged, the company has transformed itself into a key provider of cloud infrastructure tailored to AI workloads.

However, investor sentiment has been far from steady. Questions around valuation, spending, and the pace of expansion have pushed the stock sharply in both directions over recent months. Even so, Wall Street appears to be warming to the story again.

Baird analyst Rob Oliver initiated coverage of CoreWeave with an “Outperform” rating and a $100 price target, arguing that the company's growth prospects remain compelling. In fact, he called the company a "pioneer and leader" in the purpose-built AI infrastructure market. 

He believes AI infrastructure spending still has a long runway, while CoreWeave has already proven it can expand at scale, reaching more than 1 gigawatt (GW) of active power. Oliver also pointed to the company's software platform and longstanding relationship with Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) as advantages in an increasingly competitive market.

He acknowledged concerns around power availability, hardware supply, and opposition to new data centers but argued those challenges make execution even more important. In his view, companies with experience building AI infrastructure stand to benefit the most. 

For a stock that has spent most of the year testing investors' nerves, Baird's conviction signals that the bulls may finally be regaining control of the narrative.

About CoreWeave Stock 

CoreWeave is a cloud infrastructure company built specifically for AI workloads. Based in Livingston, New Jersey, the company operates the CoreWeave Cloud platform, combining proprietary software with GPU and CPU computing resources to help enterprises train, fine-tune, and deploy AI models more efficiently.

Beyond raw compute, CoreWeave provides storage tools such as the Local Object Transport Accelerator, Kubernetes-based infrastructure control, and full lifecycle management for nodes, racks, and fleets. Its Weights & Biases platform supports model development, while services extend to rendering, machine learning, and pixel streaming. 

This specialized business model has led CoreWeave to now hold a market cap of roughly $37 billion. Even so, the stock has faced considerable pressure as concerns over the pace of AI spending and intensifying competition among cloud providers weighed on sentiment.

Over the past 52 weeks, CoreWeave’s shares have fallen 34.8%, with the weakness becoming even more pronounced in recent months. The stock has declined 30% over the last three months, reflecting broader uncertainty across the AI infrastructure sector. 

More recently, however, buyers have started to return. CoreWeave shares have gained 12.75% over the past five trading sessions as optimism surrounding long-term AI infrastructure demand resurfaced.

On the valuation side, CRWV stock is currently trading at 3.56 times sales. The figure sits above the industry average, signaling the market is paying a premium for what it sees ahead. 

A Closer Look at CoreWeave’s Q1 Earnings

CoreWeave delivered standout Q1 FY2026 results on May 7, posting the strongest bookings performance in the company's history. Strong demand for its specialized AI cloud platform drove revenue sharply higher, with total sales rising 111.6% year-over-year (YOY) to $2.1 billion, well ahead of Wall Street's expectation of $1.96 billion.

But, rapid expansion continued to weigh on profitability. CoreWeave reported a net loss of $740 million, or $1.40 per share, compared with a loss of $315 million in the prior-year period as the company invested heavily to expand capacity. 

Even so, the underlying business continued to generate strong cash earnings. Adjusted EBITDA increased 90.9% from a year earlier to $1.2 billion, while the company maintained a solid 56% EBITDA margin.

The quarter's biggest milestone came from the company's growing order book. CoreWeave ended the period with a record $99.4 billion revenue backlog, including more than $40 billion in new commitments. The company also surpassed 1 GW of active power, a scale that only a small number of cloud infrastructure providers have achieved.

Management's long-term ambitions remain equally aggressive. CoreWeave aims to expand active power capacity to more than 8 GW by 2030 and generate over $30 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2027. Notably, about 75% of that revenue target is already supported by long-term contracts.

Wall Street expects CoreWeave to remain in investment mode over the coming quarters, with losses likely to widen before easing. For Q2 FY2026, analysts project loss per share to widen 142.6% YOY to $1.31. 

For the full fiscal year, estimates call for a loss per share of $4.57, widening by 70% from the previous year. The outlook becomes more encouraging in FY2027, with analysts forecasting a loss per share of $3.23, a 29.3% improvement over the previous year.

What Do Analysts Expect for CoreWeave Stock?

Baird's bullish initiation came alongside another vote of confidence from Wall Street. On the same day, Truist Securities upgraded CoreWeave to “Buy” from “Hold” and assigned the stock a $126 price target. The back-to-back endorsements helped improve investor sentiment after weeks of sustained pressure on the shares.

Wall Street's overall view of the stock remains favorable. The stock currently holds an overall rating of “Moderate Buy.” Among the 35 analysts covering CoreWeave, 20 recommend “Strong Buy,” 14 rate the stock “Moderate Buy,” and only one has a “Strong Sell” recommendation.

Analysts also see room for further gains. The stock’s average price target of $136.15 represents potential upside of 64.5%. Meanwhile, the Street-High target of $250 implies a 202% gain from current levels.