CoreWeave Posts 168% Revenue Surge in Q3, But Heavy Debt and Depreciation Drive $709M Net Loss

Neocloud provider CoreWeave demonstrated rapid business expansion in the third quarter, delivering $3.66 billion in revenue, a 168% increase compared to the same period last year. The company's adjusted EBITDA also climbed 169% to $2.26 billion, resulting in a 62% margin, while its contract backlog expanded to $132.5 billion. These numbers point to robust customer demand for artificial intelligence computing capacity.

However, the strong top-line growth is accompanied by massive capital expenditures and financing costs. Because building out data centers and purchasing advanced graphics processing units requires heavy spending, depreciation and amortization reached roughly $1.89 billion for the quarter. After factoring in operating expenses, GAAP operating income stood at just $207 million.

Furthermore, debt-fueled expansion pushed net interest expenses to $846 million during the quarter, with management projecting fourth-quarter interest costs to climb between $1.05 billion and $1.15 billion. This heavy debt burden ultimately led to a quarterly net loss of $709 million. The firm anticipates capital expenditures between $37 billion and $39 billion in 2026 as it races to build capacity for its order backlog.

Investors looking at the high-growth artificial intelligence sector must distinguish between headline revenue metrics and actual bottom-line profitability, especially for capital-intensive infrastructure providers.

What to watch next: Monitor whether CoreWeave can narrow the massive gap between its operating cash flows and its multi-billion-dollar capital expenditures.