This Nvidia-backed stock is down 42% this year: should you buy?

CoreWeave stock (NASDAQ: CRWV) has become one of the more closely watched trades in the AI boom.

The company sits in a sweet spot of the market, renting out access to Nvidia-powered computing infrastructure as demand for AI training and inference keeps rising.

But the same story that made investors excited is also what is making them nervous: CoreWeave is growing at breakneck speed, spending huge amounts to do it, and still losing money.

As of Wednesday, the stock was trading at $85.24, well below its 52-week high of $187.00, though still far above its $40 IPO price from March 2025.

Why CoreWeave stock drew so much excitement

CoreWeave stock went public in March 2025 and quickly became a high-profile way for investors to bet on the AI infrastructure buildout.

Unlike software companies that sell AI tools directly, CoreWeave provides the heavy-duty cloud capacity needed to train and run those models.

That has helped it position itself as a pure-play beneficiary of the scramble for high-end GPU access.

The growth numbers help explain the early enthusiasm.

CoreWeave reported 2025 revenue of [MONEY value="5130000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"] up sharply from the prior year, while its revenue backlog climbed to [MONEY value="66800000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"].

For bullish investors, that backlog is the key figure: it suggests customers are still lining up for capacity and gives the company unusual visibility into future demand.

In simple terms, the market is not questioning whether AI customers want the product.

The question is whether CoreWeave can build enough infrastructure, fast enough, and at a cost that does not crush shareholders along the way.

Also read: Why Anthropic is teaming up with Nvidia, Microsoft on cybersecurity

Why has the stock come under pressure?

CoreWeave’s latest results showed just how expensive its growth plan has become.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company posted a net loss of [MONEY value="452000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"], while net interest expense alone reached [MONEY value="388000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"].

That is a reminder that CoreWeave is not simply riding the AI wave; it is also financing a massive expansion that comes with real balance-sheet strain.

The bigger shock for many investors was management’s spending outlook.

CoreWeave said it expects 2026 capital expenditures of [MONEY value="30000000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"] to [MONEY value="35000000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"] more than double the [MONEY value="14900000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"] it spent in 2025.

The guidance raised concerns about margins, debt and execution risk, especially because backlog only becomes actual revenue if the company can bring data centers online and deliver the promised capacity.

Bargain buy, or still too risky?

There is still a credible bullish case.

CoreWeave’s backlog remains huge, revenue is expanding fast, and the company announced an [MONEY value="8500000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"] delayed-draw term loan facility on March 31.

That deal brought its financing raised over the prior 12 months to roughly [MONEY value="28000000000" currency="usd" notation="long" replace="false"].

Supporters argue that a company with this level of customer demand and funding access could still emerge as one of the defining infrastructure winners of the AI era.

But the bear case is just as clear.

CoreWeave remains deeply capital-hungry, carries heavy financial obligations, and is operating in a market that is becoming less forgiving of growth-at-any-cost stories.

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