CoreWeave, Inc. CRWV reported first-quarter 2025 loss per share of $1.49, which was much wider than a loss of 62 cents in the year-ago quarter. Loss per share includes $177 million of stock-based compensation expense for awards with a liquidity-event performance-based vesting condition, which was satisfied at IPO. 

Adjusted net loss for the quarter was $149.6 million compared with $23.6 million a year ago.

Revenues in the quarter were a record $981.6 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.2%. Total revenues jumped 420% year over year. The top-line performance was driven by increasing demand for AI-cloud infrastructure. CRWV highlighted that AI is forecasted to have a global economic impact of $20 trillion by 2030, while the total addressable market is anticipated to increase to $400 billion by 2028. Apart from scaling capacity and getting adequate financing for infrastructure, CRWV is also expanding its go-to-market capabilities. 

Management inked a strategic partnership with OpenAI for about $11.9 billion while adding several new enterprise customers and a hyperscaler client. It has inked expansion agreements with many customers, including a $4 billion expansion with a big AI-enterprise customer. Moreover, the buyout of the Weights and Biases acquisition has added 1,400 AI labs and enterprises as clients for CoreWeave. Also, the company expanded its data-center footprint by adding a new data center in Spain in collaboration with Merlin Edged, with Mistral AI as the anchor client. 

Revenue backlog (inclusive of remaining performance obligation and other amounts the company estimates will be recognized as revenues in future periods under committed customer contracts) was $259 billion, rising 63% year over year. CRWV added that the $4 billion expansion agreement signed with a big AI client will be reflected in revenue backlog beginning in the current quarter.Zacks Investment Research

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However, management’s commentary surrounding higher capital expenditures is likely to have unnerved investors. CRWV expects capex to be between $20 billion and $23 billion for 2025 due to accelerated investment in the platform to meet customer demand. The company anticipates stock-based compensation to remain slightly higher in 2025 for the grants issued pertaining to the IPO.

Following the results, shares are down 6.6% in the pre-market trading session today. CRWV’s shares have gained 65.7% in the past month, significantly outperforming the 28% rise of its Internet Software industry. (Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

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CRWV’s Q1 Margin Performance

Total operating expenses were $1 billion compared with $171.8 million in the year-ago quarter. This was inclusive of a one-time stock-based compensation expense recognized upon completion of the IPO. 

Operating loss was $27.5 million against operating income of $16.9 million in the prior year quarter. 

Adjusted operating income was $162.6 million, up 550% year over year, while adjusted operating margin was 17%, up from 13% in the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA was $606.1 million compared with $104.6 million in the prior-year quarter.

CRWV’s Q1 Cash Flow and Liquidity

As of March 31, 2025, CRWV had $2.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. The company exited the first quarter with a cash flow of $61.2 million while capex was $19 billion.

CRWV’s Guidance for Q2 & 2025

Driven by healthy momentum despite evolving trade policy, macro uncertainty and volatility, CRWV expects full-year 2025 revenues to be between $4.9 billion and $5.1 billion. Adjusted operating income is forecasted to be between $800 million and $830 million. 

For the second quarter, CRWV projects revenues to be between $1.06 billion and $1.1 billion. Adjusted operating income is forecasted to be between $140 million and $170 million. Capex is forecasted to be between $3 billion and $3.5 billion, amid accelerated platform investments.

CRWV’s Zacks Rank

CRWV currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Recent Performance of Other Companies in the Same Space

BlackBerry BB reported the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of 3 cents. The figure was up from the company’s estimate of a loss of 1 cent to EPS of 1 cent. In the year-ago quarter, it reported a non-GAAP EPS of 3 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at 2 cents per share. BlackBerry’s total revenues were $141.7 million compared with the prior-quarter revenues of $152.9 million. Although the top-line beat management’s guidance ($126-$135 million), the year-over-year contraction resulted from soft sales across all segments. Shares of BB are up 21.2% in the past month. 

Arista Networks, Inc. ANET reported strong first-quarter 2025 results, with revenues and adjusted earnings increasing year over year, driven by robust demand trends across key verticals such as cloud, AI-focused data centers, and campus enterprises. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was a record high at $826.2 million or 65 cents per share compared with $637.7 million or 50 cents in the year-earlier quarter. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents. Revenues surged to $2 billion from $1.57 billion in the prior-year quarter, driven by strength in the enterprise vertical. The top line beat the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion.

F5, Inc. FFIV reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings of $3.42 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.3% and management’s guidance of $3.02-$3.14 (midpoint of $3.08). The bottom line increased 17.5% year over year. F5’s revenues of $731 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 surpassed the consensus mark by 2%. The top line increased 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues also surpassed management’s guidance of $705-$725 million (midpoint of $715 million).

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