CoreWeave surges 10% as Oracle earnings spark AI infrastructure rally
Cloud provider benefits from Oracle's 243% AI infrastructure growth and $553B backlog
CoreWeave shares jumped more than 10% on Wednesday, riding a wave of investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence infrastructure after Oracle delivered quarterly results that far exceeded Wall Street expectations and signaled accelerating demand for AI computing power.
The stock surged 10.5% to $82.78, adding roughly $3.7 billion to the company's market capitalization, which now stands at approximately $39.1 billion. The rally came in tandem with Oracle's double-digit gains following the database giant's fiscal third-quarter earnings release, which revealed explosive growth in its AI infrastructure business.
Oracle reported revenue of $17.19 billion for the quarter, surpassing analyst projections of $16.91 billion, while adjusted earnings per share climbed 21% year-over-year to $1.79, beating estimates of $1.71. But the headline-grabbing figure was cloud infrastructure revenue, which surged 84% to $4.9 billion, with AI infrastructure specifically skyrocketing 243% compared with the prior year.
Perhaps more significantly for infrastructure investors, Oracle's remaining performance obligations—a measure of contracted future revenue—soared 325% to $553 billion, indicating a massive and growing pipeline of AI-related work. The company raised its fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $90 billion, well above analyst expectations of $86.63 billion.
"Demand for AI training and inference capacity is growing faster than supply," Oracle management stated on the earnings call, noting that major consumers of AI cloud capacity have recently strengthened their financial positions. That comment was widely interpreted as referring to OpenAI, which recently secured substantial investment from Amazon and expanded its agreement with AWS.
The connection to CoreWeave is straightforward: both companies have established partnerships with OpenAI, positioning them as beneficiaries of the same AI infrastructure boom. OpenAI's improved financial footing supports the long-term growth prospects for both Oracle and CoreWeave, according to analysts.
CoreWeave, which went public in March 2025 at $40 per share, operates a GPU-centric cloud platform specifically designed for AI workloads. Unlike general-purpose cloud providers, the company focuses exclusively on providing access to clusters of NVIDIA GPUs for AI training and inference. The business model is built around usage-based rental, with customers paying by the hour per GPU, plus separate storage charges.
Approximately 96% of CoreWeave's revenue comes from multi-year "take-or-pay" agreements spanning two to six years, providing predictable recurring revenue that investors find attractive in an uncertain market. Notable customers include OpenAI and Microsoft, giving the company exposure to some of the largest AI development programs in the world.
Founded in 2017 as Atlantic Crypto, CoreWeave pivoted from cryptocurrency mining to AI cloud computing in 2019 after the crypto market downturn. The company leveraged its extensive GPU inventory to become a specialized provider of cloud infrastructure for AI workloads, a strategic move that has proven prescient given the explosive growth of generative AI.
The company maintains close relationships with NVIDIA, enabling early access to next-generation GPUs including the H100, A100, Blackwell, and GB200 NVL72 chips. This hardware advantage allows CoreWeave to bring cutting-edge computing power to market faster than competitors, a critical differentiator in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Analysts remain broadly optimistic about CoreWeave's prospects, with the stock carrying an average price target of $120.03, according to market data. Of the 30 analysts covering the company, 18 rate it a buy or strong buy, while 11 recommend hold and just one advises sell. The consensus target represents roughly 45% upside from Wednesday's closing price.
The rally represents a notable turnaround for CoreWeave, which has traded significantly below its 52-week high of $187.00. The stock has faced pressure over concerns about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending and competition from larger cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. However, Oracle's results suggest that demand for specialized AI computing infrastructure remains robust.
CoreWeave's strong performance Wednesday also reflects broader positive sentiment in the AI infrastructure sector following Oracle's earnings. Other companies exposed to AI data center demand, including semiconductor firms and data center real estate investment trusts, also saw gains as investors reassessed the growth trajectory of AI spending.
The company's 52-week low of $33.52, set earlier this year, now appears increasingly distant as investors grow more confident in the long-term demand for AI computing resources. However, CoreWeave continues to operate at a loss, with diluted earnings per share of negative $2.81 over the trailing twelve months, highlighting the capital-intensive nature of the infrastructure business.
Looking ahead, investors will be watching for signs that the demand signals from Oracle's quarter translate into tangible growth for CoreWeave. The company's next earnings report will be closely scrutinized for evidence of new customer wins, utilization rates, and progress toward profitability—all factors that could determine whether Wednesday's rally has staying power.