Wedbush Analysts Still Have Their Foot on the Gas for CoreWeave Stock

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly turning into an infrastructure race, and the scramble is simple – whoever can provide enough computing capacity to power AI workloads has a seat at the table.

CoreWeave (CRWV) has proven itself as a contender. Once known for its crypto roots, the company has transformed itself into a specialized cloud infrastructure provider built for demanding AI workloads, helping customers get the computing power they need as AI adoption keeps accelerating.

In a market where capacity can feel like the new gold, that positioning has helped put CoreWeave on investors' radar, and the company has been backing it up with hefty customer commitments. Just last week, CoreWeave gave that story another shot in the arm with an impressive Q2 2026 report, and the numbers offered another reason for analysts to believe that demand for AI infrastructure is still high.

Wedbush is upbeat, and analyst Matt Bryson believes rising AI data center pricing and attractive returns on AI infrastructure investments point to demand continuing to outstrip supply. In other words, the AI capacity race may still have plenty of gas left in the tank.

That leaves Wedbush keeping its foot on the gas, arguing that CRWV has more room to run and that the AI capacity cycle has not peaked yet. Let's take a closer look at why the brokerage firm remains so upbeat on CoreWeave.

About CoreWeave Stock

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Livingston, New Jersey, CoreWeave has rapidly established itself as a leader in GPU-optimized cloud infrastructure. With a market capitalization of $48.3 billion, the company supports the accelerating AI revolution through systems designed for generative AI and large-scale compute workloads. Its mission is to streamline modern AI complexity and empower enterprises to deploy intelligence at scale, positioning CoreWeave as a foundational pillar of next-generation technology.

CoreWeave has given investors plenty of reasons to hold on tight. The stock debuted in March 2025 at $40 and climbed to a record closing high of $183.58 on June 20, 2025, helped by a steady stream of AI cloud deals, partnerships, acquisitions and moves into federal contracts.

But the story took a sharp turn. A report that Meta Platforms (META) was exploring leasing some of its AI computing infrastructure to outside customers raised an uncomfortable question. Could some of the biggest customers of neocloud companies eventually become competitors? That possibility weighed on sentiment and CRWV stock stumbled.

The stock has since recovered some ground. As of Aug. 17, CRWV hit $106 by market close, still comfortably above its 52-week low of $60.55 but 30.8% below its 52-week high of $153.20.

Even after that pullback, the broader picture remains surprisingly strong. The stock is up roughly 48% year-to-date (YTD), while its recent momentum has picked up sharply. Shares gained 44.8% over the past month and 20.2% over the last five trading days. Much of that jump came after CoreWeave's Q2 report, when shares surged 19.3% on Aug. 12.

Still, the stock's recent sprint deserves some caution. Its 14-day RSI is at 63.23, putting it closer to overbought territory. The momentum is solid, but after such a strong rebound, CRWV may need to catch its breath before making its next big move.

CoreWeave stock comes at a premium, trading at roughly 4.5 times forward sales. That valuation suggests investors are already betting big on sustained AI-driven growth and a long runway ahead. With expectations this high, there's simply not much room for execution missteps.

CoreWeave's Q2 Numbers Top Projections

The AI infrastructure company reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.6 billion, up a staggering 112.5% year-over-year (YOY) and, importantly, ahead of Wall Street's expectations. At first glance, that looks impressive. But once you move further down the income statement, the picture becomes a little less rosy.

Adjusted operating income margins slipped during the quarter, while CoreWeave posted a net loss of $1.14 per share. Still, the loss was narrower than analysts had expected, offering investors at least one bright spot.

Then there is the backlog, which is arguably where CoreWeave's story gets really interesting. As of June 30, backlog stood at $104.2 billion, up a whopping 246% from a year earlier. The growth was supported by continued diversification across enterprise and AI-native customers. And that number does not even include another $25 billion in new customer commitments.

Management also said newly signed customer agreements during the quarter came with terms that were five to 10 percentage points more favorable than deals secured in the previous period. Combined with the ongoing production ramp, that could translate into meaningful operating leverage as the business scales.

CoreWeave generated $679 million in net cash from operating activities in Q2, compared with an outflow of -$251 million in the year-ago period. The company finished June with a hefty $5.5 billion cash balance.

Looking ahead, management expects Q3 revenue between $3.45 billion and $3.60 billion. At the midpoint, that would represent another eye-popping 159.2% annual growth. Adjusted operating income is expected to land between $200 million and $260 million.

The spending, however, is anything but small change. Q2 capital expenditures are expected to reach $11.5 billion to $13.5 billion, while full-year 2026 capex guidance has climbed to the $35 billion to $39 billion range. For fiscal 2026, CoreWeave expects revenue of $12.4 billion to $13.2 billion.

It also now expects to finish the year with 1.85 gigawatts of active power capacity, up from its earlier 1.7 GW target. And management is thinking much bigger. CEO Mike Intrator said CoreWeave remains "firmly on track" to reach at least 8 GW by 2030. In Q2, the company expanded active power by nearly 500 megawatts to 1.5 GW, while total contracted power rose to 3.7 GW.

Analysts tracking CoreWeave anticipate the company's Q3 revenue to be around $3.5 billion, while losses are estimated at -$1.59 per share. Fiscal 2026 revenue is expected to be around $12.9 billion, while losses are expected to continue, pegged at -$5.69 per share, widening by 111.5% YOY. The turnaround might start showing in fiscal 2027, when losses are expected to shrink by 30.9% annually and come down to -$3.93 per share.

What Do Analysts Expect for CoreWeave Stock?

If there is one thing analysts seem to agree on after CoreWeave's latest results, it is that the AI infrastructure story still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Wedbush remains particularly upbeat, viewing the company's Q2 performance and growing backlog as evidence that demand for AI infrastructure is holding up remarkably well.

Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson pointed to CoreWeave's commentary that AI data center pricing is rising. In his view, that is not simply a pricing story; it reflects how badly customers need computing capacity. Conversations with neocloud providers at AMD's Accelerate conference and FMS also suggested that returns on AI server investments are arriving quickly, with payback periods in the range of three years or less. Bryson noted that this broadly lines up with Amazon's comments about the attractiveness of AI data center investments.

Put the pieces together, and Wedbush sees two important takeaways – demand for AI training and inference capacity is still running ahead of supply, and investment in AI capacity has not yet reached its peak.

Wedbush also viewed CoreWeave's Q2 backlog growth as a strong signal that demand remains robust despite concerns around financing, data center capacity and cash flow across the AI industry. In fact, Wedbush believes some of those broader concerns are overstated based on what it can currently see.

Jefferies is also keeping a steady stance. The firm maintained its "Buy" rating and $150 price target, saying CoreWeave's improving unit economics and stronger demand visibility outweigh several near-term risks. Jefferies highlighted that newer contracts are delivering materially better economics, helped by pricing, platform differentiation and the economics of newer infrastructure.

Interestingly, even older-generation systems are maintaining resilient pricing despite the arrival of newer chips, which Jefferies sees as another sign that demand remains strong. Still, the firm is not looking through rose-colored glasses. Higher capex and founder stock sales remain overhangs, while the key question is how much of CoreWeave's improved profitability ultimately reaches its full-year results. Jefferies noted that the Q2 EBIT beat was not fully reflected in the increase to 2026 guidance.

Even so, the brokerage firm believes the "long-term story strengthened," with CoreWeave's valuation looking attractive relative to its massive backlog and the potential scale of the AI infrastructure buildout.

The consensus rating on CRWV stock remains at "Moderate Buy." Among 36 analysts covering the stock now, 23 advise a "Strong Buy," one suggests a "Moderate Buy," 11 analysts are playing it safe with a "Hold" rating, and the remaining one analyst remains skeptical with a "Strong Sell." The average target of $140.65 signals nearly 32.7% upside potential, and the Street-high target of $250 suggests that the stock could rise as much as 135.9%.

On the date of publication, Sristi Suman Jayaswal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com