CoreWeave (CRWV) Shares Drop 11% Amid AI Sell-Off as Cathie Wood Snaps Up $12.9M in Stock

TLDRs;

• CoreWeave dropped 11% amid an AI selloff despite a positive long-term outlook for infrastructure demand.
• Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest acquired $12.9 million worth of CoreWeave shares during the downturn.
• Wells Fargo increased its price target to $155 but highlighted concerns over weak near-term revenue guidance.
• Investors are balancing strong growth prospects and a large backlog against significant losses and high capital expenditures.

(SeaPRwire) –   CoreWeave (CRWV) shares experienced sharp declines, falling 11% in a broader AI infrastructure selloff that affected high-growth cloud and chip-related companies. The Nvidia-backed “neocloud” provider dropped to approximately $114.15 as investors responded to weaker near-term guidance and growing worries about profitability in capital-intensive AI expansion efforts.

Despite the steep drop, trading remained active, reflecting conflicting market views: caution in the short term versus optimism about sustained AI infrastructure demand in the long run. The stock briefly touched a low of $110.63 before closing near $114, erasing some recent gains but maintaining a valuation based on future growth expectations.

Cathie Wood Steps In Aggressively

While many investors sold off, ARK Invest, under Cathie Wood’s leadership, took a contrary position. ARK funds bought around 113,076 shares of CoreWeave, totaling roughly $12.9 million in new investments during the dip. This move demonstrates continued confidence in CoreWeave’s long-term role in AI cloud infrastructure, even as volatility increases.

CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV

The purchase also reflects ARK’s broader strategy of investing aggressively in high-growth, disruptive technology firms during times of weakness. Instead of seeing the selloff as a fundamental breakdown, the fund appears to view it as a chance to reset valuations within an ongoing and expanding AI compute cycle.

Wall Street Split on Outlook

Analyst sentiment remains mixed. Wells Fargo raised its price target on CoreWeave to $155 from $135 while keeping an Overweight rating, citing robust long-term capacity expansion and increasing contracted demand. However, the firm also noted that near-term guidance missed expectations, fueling market uncertainty.

Other institutions offered similar divergent perspectives. Some pointed to CoreWeave’s substantial revenue backlog and expanding power capacity—now exceeding multiple gigawatts—as signs of solid underlying demand. Others warned that heavy capital spending and ongoing losses could continue to pressure the stock in the near term.

Massive Growth Meets Heavy Losses

CoreWeave continues to expand rapidly, reporting a revenue backlog close to $99 billion and first-quarter revenue of about $2.08 billion, more than double the previous year. Yet this growth comes with high costs. Operating expenses surpassed $2.2 billion, and net losses reached $740 million in the same period.

The company has also raised its capital expenditure forecast for 2026, indicating continued heavy investment in data center development and GPU infrastructure. Management maintains that demand is strong, especially as customers increasingly focus on AI inference workloads rather than just model training.

AI Infrastructure Story Under Pressure

CoreWeave is central to the “neocloud” concept, offering GPU-powered infrastructure to companies rapidly scaling their AI systems. Partnerships with major clients such as Meta and Anthropic have bolstered its commercial pipeline, though execution risks remain elevated.

The main debate among investors is no longer about demand—it’s about timing. With a nearly $100 billion backlog, the critical question is how quickly CoreWeave can convert contracted orders into actual revenue while managing rising costs, debt requirements, and potential equity dilution.

For now, the market is pricing in uncertainty, even as long-term advocates argue that the company is building essential infrastructure for the next wave of artificial intelligence growth.