CoreWeave raises 2026 outlook as Q3 revenue hits $3.66 billion

By Tom Whitfield

CoreWeave reported $3.66 billion in third-quarter 2026 revenue on Nov. 10, up 168% from $1.37 billion a year earlier and above its August guidance of $3.45 billion to $3.60 billion. Revenue rose $1.09 billion from $2.575 billion in the second quarter, and the company raised full-year revenue guidance to $13.0 billion to $13.3 billion from $12.4 billion to $13.2 billion.

What did the quarter show?

Adjusted operating income reached $379 million, a 10% margin, versus guidance of $200 million to $260 million and compared with $217 million in Q3 2025 and $128 million in Q2 2026. GAAP operating income reached $207 million, compared with $52 million a year earlier and a $49 million loss in the second quarter.

Michael Intrator, CEO, said: “This was a breakout quarter for CoreWeave, with revenue increasing by more than $1 billion sequentially and adjusted operating margins reaching double digits a quarter ahead of plan.” The result indicates that CoreWeave converted rapid demand into operating profit faster than management expected.

Adjusted EBITDA rose to $2.26 billion, a 62% margin, from $838 million a year earlier and $1.51 billion in the second quarter. Depreciation and amortization rose to $1.89 billion from $630 million a year earlier, reflecting the asset-heavy cost of buying GPUs on credit.

Net interest expense reached $846 million, compared with $640 million in the second quarter and $310 million a year earlier, but below the company’s $860 million to $940 million guidance. The net loss widened to $709 million, or $1.27 per share, from $110 million a year earlier and $626 million in the second quarter.

CoreWeave reported the following quarterly revenue sequence:

• Q1 2025: $0.98 billion
• Q2 2025: $1.21 billion
• Q3 2025: $1.36 billion
• Q4 2025: $1.57 billion
• Q1 2026: $2.08 billion
• Q2 2026: $2.58 billion
• Q3 2026: $3.66 billion

Revenue grew in each of seven reported quarters, but depreciation and interest expense show the cost of the capacity behind that growth.

What does 2026 guidance require?

CoreWeave raised adjusted operating income guidance to $1.275 billion to $1.375 billion from $960 million to $1.15 billion. Management said the new midpoint was 26% higher, and lifted its target for year-end annualized revenue run rate to $20 billion to $21 billion from $18.5 billion to $19.5 billion.

The company defines run-rate revenue as the final month of a quarter multiplied by 12. Revenue for the first nine months totaled $8.31 billion, while adjusted operating income totaled $528 million.

MLQ.ai calculated that the new full-year ranges imply fourth-quarter revenue of about $4.69 billion to $4.99 billion and adjusted operating income of about $747 million to $847 million. Management now expects a steep fourth-quarter revenue and profit step-up, making the final three months decisive for the raised outlook.

How much infrastructure is committed?

Capital spending will be $37 billion to $39 billion in 2026, above the bottom of the previous $35 billion to $39 billion range. CoreWeave attributed the increase to plans to deliver infrastructure to customers sooner than planned. Cash purchases of property and equipment totaled $9.44 billion in the quarter and $23.56 billion over the first nine months.

The company expects more than 1.85 gigawatts of active power at year-end. It added more than 200 megawatts during the quarter to exceed 1.7 gigawatts, while contracted power rose by more than 900 megawatts to more than 4.6 gigawatts. Contracted commitments therefore extend well beyond CoreWeave’s active capacity.

The build now carries more cash spending and power commitments, so earlier infrastructure delivery matters to the economics.

Can customers and lenders fund the build?

Revenue backlog reached about $132.5 billion at Sept. 30, up from about $104 billion at June 30. The measure includes remaining performance obligations and other committed contract amounts, and CoreWeave said it signed more than $25 billion of net new commitments in early Q3.

OpenAI, Cohere, Jane Street and Perplexity expanded their work with CoreWeave. Canva, Wayve and Substack were new customers named in the release.

CoreWeave did not disclose customer concentration in the release, a detail usually found in its 10-Q. The company said it would file that report on or about Nov. 10, so the cited materials did not yet show the concentration of the backlog.

MLQ.ai summed recourse and non-recourse debt at about $46.9 billion at Sept. 30, up from about $21.4 billion at the end of 2025. During the quarter, CoreWeave raised about $4.2 billion of convertible notes, established an at-the-market program for up to 35 million Class A shares, and closed a $2.6 billion delayed-draw loan designed for shorter customer contracts.

It expects fourth-quarter interest expense of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion. Funding conditions had already tightened: CoreWeave’s 2032 bonds yielded more than 16% during the preceding week, and MLQ.ai reported that lenders had become more cautious about AI debt. Investors focused on the interest bill and funding plan as closely as revenue.

Customers are supplying more cash as CoreWeave expands. Deferred revenue rose by $2.13 billion in the quarter, operating cash flow reached $1.98 billion, and Intrator said the company expected about $9 billion in customer prepayments and deposits over the next three months.

Bloomberg reported that Microsoft was renting less AI capacity from neoclouds, including CoreWeave. CoreWeave scheduled its earnings call for 5 p.m. ET.

Customer cash supports the build, but debt growth and reduced Microsoft rentals keep funding risk visible. CoreWeave enters the fourth quarter with about $132.5 billion of backlog, a year-end target above 1.85 gigawatts of active power, and $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion of guided interest expense.

Its next quarter will show whether customer deposits and earlier infrastructure delivery can sustain margins while the debt funding that capacity continues to grow. Investors will therefore watch whether customer cash and contracted power grow fast enough to absorb a rising interest bill.