CoreWeave Lost $740 Million in 90 Days. Then Meta Handed It $21 Billion. Welcome to the AI Economy

CoreWeave reported a Q1 2026 net loss of $740 million, compared with a $315 million loss a year earlier. Revenue doubled to $2.08 billion, up 111.69% year over year, and exceeded consensus by 5.80%, while EPS was -$1.4 versus -$1.2 expected. Capital expenditures rose to $7.695 billion from $1.41 billion a year earlier, and full-year CapEx guidance increased to $31 billion to $35 billion. Interest expense totaled $536 million, double the prior year’s $264 million. Contracted revenue backlog reached $99.4 billion, including a $21 billion Meta agreement signed in March, with a weighted average contract length around five years and about 36% expected to convert to revenue within 24 months.

"The Q1 2026 release on May 7, 2026 showed a net loss of $740 million, against a year-ago loss of $315 million. In the same filing, contracted revenue backlog reached $99.4 billion, anchored by a $21 billion agreement with Meta Platforms ( NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) signed in March."

"Strip away the noise and you have a company that doubled revenue to $2.08 billion, up 111.69% year over year, and beat consensus revenue by 5.80%. The catch is that EPS came in at -$1.4, missing expectations of -$1.2. Moreover, capital expenditures hit $7.695 billion in the quarter, against $1.41 billion a year earlier, and management lifted full-year CapEx guidance to a range of $31 billion to $35 billion."

"Interest expense alone was $536 million, double the prior year's $264 million. Explosive growth and explosive debt service, in the same quarter, on the same balance sheet. The stock has been telling that story in real time. Shares of CoreWeave are up 35% year to date, with the most recent trading day adding another 2.5%."

"CoreWeave's $99.4 billion in remaining performance obligations grew nearly 50% sequentially and roughly 4x year over year, with a weighted average contract length around five years. Roughly 36% is expected to convert to revenue in the next 24 months. The Q4 2025 backlog was $66.8 billion, which means a single quarter pulled in roughly the size of the entire $40 billion in new commitments that CEO Michael Intrator referenced on the call."

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