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    CRWV
    Earnings call· Mar 2025(Q1 FY25)

    CoreWeave Q1 FY25 earnings call CRWV

    May 14, 2025 Source

    Executive summary

    CoreWeave Q1 FY25 — Record Revenue and Strong AI Demand

    CoreWeave reported strong Q1 FY25 results, driven by robust demand for its purpose-built AI cloud platform and accelerated infrastructure deployment. The company highlighted significant customer wins, including a strategic deal with OpenAI and a large AI enterprise expansion, alongside the acquisition of Weights & Biases. While scaling rapidly to meet demand, the company is managing increased investment costs and interest expenses, which are impacting near-term profitability.

    Highlights

    5

    • Record revenue of $982 million, up 420% year-on-year.

    • Record adjusted operating income of $163 million, up 550% year-on-year.

    • Strategic deal with OpenAI valued up to $11.9 billion.

    • Acquisition of Weights & Biases, adding over 1,400 customers.

    • First to deploy GB200 Grace Blackwell systems at scale on its AI cloud platform.

    Concerns

    4

    • Net loss for Q1 was $315 million, compared to a $129 million net loss in Q1 2024.

    • Interest expense for Q1 was $264 million, higher than expectations.

    • FY25 CapEx guidance increased to $20 billion to $23 billion due to accelerated investments.

    • Near-term adjusted operating income margin impacted by accelerated and increased platform investments.

    Guidance & targets

    8
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    Q2 Revenue
    $1.06 billion to $1.1 billion
    high materiality
    High
    Q2 Adjusted Operating Income
    $140 million to $170 million
    high materiality
    High
    Q2 Interest Expense
    $260 million to $300 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Q2 CapEx
    $3 billion to $3.5 billion
    high materiality
    High
    FY25 Revenue
    $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion
    high materiality
    High
    FY25 Adjusted Operating Income
    $800 million to $830 million
    high materiality
    High
    FY25 CapEx
    $20 billion to $23 billion
    high materiality
    High
    Stock-based compensation
    slightly elevated
    low materiality
    Medium

    Operational metrics

    18
    Revenue
    $982 millionup 420% year-on-year
    Q1 FY25

    Record revenue for the quarter.

    Adjusted Operating Income
    $163 millionup 550% year-on-year
    Q1 FY25

    Record adjusted operating income for the quarter.

    Adjusted Operating Income Margin
    17%up 3 points year-on-year
    Q1 FY25

    Adjusted operating income margin for the quarter.

    Net Loss
    $315 millioncompared to $129 million net loss in Q1 2024
    Q1 FY25

    Increase driven by one-time stock-based compensation, higher interest expense, and higher taxes.

    Interest Expense
    $264 millionhigher than expectations
    Q1 FY25

    Due to improvement in vendor payment terms, reducing capitalized interest, and higher debt levels.

    Adjusted Net Loss
    $150 millioncompared to $24 million adjusted net loss in Q1 2024
    Q1 FY25

    Impacted by higher-than-expected interest expense.

    Adjusted EBITDA
    $606 millionnearly 6x greater than Q1 2024
    Q1 FY25

    Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter.

    Adjusted EBITDA Margin
    62%up 6 points year-on-year
    Q1 FY25

    Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter.

    CapEx
    $1.9 billion
    Q1 FY25

    CapEx consists primarily of investments in property and technology and equipment, reported net of construction in progress.

    Cash and investments balance
    $2.5 billion
    as of March 31

    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash.

    Revolving credit facility
    $1.5 billionmore than doubled from $650 million
    May 2025

    Increased earlier this month, providing substantial additional liquidity.

    Active power capacity
    420 megawatts
    Q1 FY25

    Supported by 33 purpose-built AI data centers.

    Total contracted power capacity
    1.6 gigawatts
    multiyear runway

    Provides a durable multiyear runway in power capacity.

    Incremental contracted power
    300 megawatts
    Q1 FY25

    Added to the portfolio in Q1.

    Team size
    1,400
    Q1 FY25

    Team has grown to about 1,400, including accomplished talent in the AI space.

    Total capital raised for infrastructure
    $21 billion
    to date

    Raised to expand infrastructure and data center capacity.

    Weights & Biases customers
    1,400+
    Q1 FY25

    Number of customers gained through the acquisition of Weights & Biases.

    Deployed power
    more than doubledlife-to-date deployed power
    by year-end

    Expected deployed power by the end of the year compared to life-to-date deployed power, reflecting the scale of infrastructure build.

    Industry KPIs

    6
    MetricValueDetails
    Headcount dso1,400employees
    Infra economics420 MW active; 1.6 GW contractedMW/GW
    Rpo current rpo$25.9 billionUSD
    Customer logo metrics1,400+customers
    Genai ai book of business$11.9 billion (OpenAI) + $4 billion (large AI enterprise)USD
    Ai agentic channel product adoptionbroad-based increase

    Orderbook & backlog

    4
    Revenue backlog (RPO + other amounts)$25.9 billionMarch 31, 2025

    up 63% year-over-year

    Includes remaining performance obligation (RPO) plus other amounts estimated to be recognized as revenue in future periods under committed customer contracts.

    OpenAI strategic deal contract value$11.9 billionMarch 2025

    Contract value for the OpenAI strategic deal, not yet included in RPO due to ongoing accounting treatment finalization. This is a net new contract.

    Large AI enterprise expansion agreement$4 billionQ2 FY25

    Expansion agreement signed in Q2, additive to the Q1 ending revenue backlog of $25.9 billion. Will be reflected in Q2 backlog numbers.

    Total revenue obligations (pro forma)$29 billionQ2 FY25 (pro forma)

    Cumulative total of Q1 revenue backlog, OpenAI contract, and the $4 billion Q2 expansion agreement.

    Product announcements

    3
    ProductTypeDetails
    CoreWeave AI object storagelaunch
    NVIDIA's AI enterprise software and Cloud Functions (NVCF) supportupdate
    New data center in Spainlaunch

    Deals & partnerships

    5
    OpenAIStrategic deal for reliable and performing infrastructure services.up to $11.9 billion

    Partnering with OpenAI on a net new contract for AI infrastructure services.

    Weights & BiasesAcquisition of an industry-leading platform for AI developers.

    Acquisition announced and completed, bringing over 1,400 customers to CoreWeave.

    Large AI enterpriseExpansion agreement for AI infrastructure.$4 billion

    Expansion agreement signed in Q2 with a large AI enterprise.

    MERLIN EdgedPartnership to open a new data center in Spain.

    Partnership for a new data center in Spain, with Mistral AI as anchor client.

    Mistral AIAnchor client for the new data center in Spain.

    Mistral AI will be the anchor client for the newly announced data center in Spain.

    Risks & headwinds

    5
    Global trade policy volatilityongoing

    uncertainties caused by the ongoing volatility

    Mitigation: Closely monitoring the environment and working with suppliers to mitigate impacts; building a resilient supplier pipeline.

    Elevated equipment costs

    elevated costs for certain equipment

    Mitigation: Expected to be relatively marginal; working with suppliers to mitigate impacts.

    Near-term margin impact from accelerated investmentsQ2 FY25 and FY25

    near-term margin impact

    Mitigation: Strategic decision to accelerate and increase investments to meet customer demand, with expectation of long-term value creation.

    Higher interest expenseQ1 FY25, Q2 FY25

    $264 million in Q1, $260 million to $300 million for Q2

    Mitigation: Due to improved vendor payment terms reducing capitalized interest and increased debt for CapEx; company aims to consistently drive down cost of capital.

    Elevated stock-based compensationthrough the year

    slightly elevated

    Mitigation: Due to grants issued in connection with the IPO.

    What to watch in Q2 FY25

    5

    Adjusted Operating Income Margin

    next quarter
    Current17%
    TargetStabilization or improvement from Q1/Q2 levels

    Why it matters

    The impact of accelerated investments on profitability is a key concern, and stabilization would signal effective management of growth costs.

    In addition, we anticipate Q2 adjusted operating income between $140 million to $170 million as we accelerate and pull in our investments to meet customer demand.

    Q&A highlights

    8

    What drove the significant Q1 revenue beat, and why is the OpenAI contract not included in RPO?

    The revenue beat was due to a concerted strategic effort to accelerate infrastructure investment and deliver compute more quickly to client contracts. The OpenAI deal's accounting treatment is not yet finalized, so it's not in RPO, but this does not affect revenue timing, deal economics, or cash flows.

    “The accounting treatment for the OpenAI deal has not yet been finalized. Hence, we are not including it in the RPO. It is a single large contract at a single site. And hence, given the scale and size of this deal, we have been prudent with the accounting analysis.”

    asked by Keith Weiss · answered by Nitin Agrawal

    2 min read6 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    Q1 Financial Highlights

    CoreWeave delivered outstanding Q1 financial performance, with record revenue of $982 million, representing a 420% year-on-year increase. Adjusted operating income reached a record $163 million, up 550% year-on-year, with an adjusted operating income margin of 17%, up 3 points. Adjusted EBITDA was $606 million, nearly 6x greater than Q1 2024, with a 62% margin, up 6 points. However, the company reported a net loss of $315 million, impacted by one-time📎 stock-based compensation, higher interest expense of $264 million, and higher taxes.

    02

    Strategic Customer Wins & Expansion

    The company completed a strategic deal with OpenAI, with a contract value of up to $11.9 billion. Additionally, CoreWeave signed an expansion agreement with a large AI enterprise for $4 billion in Q2, which will be reflected in future backlog numbers. New enterprise customers and a new hyperscaler were also added, demonstrating broad-based demand for AI infrastructure. The company emphasized that its revenue backlog, including RPO, was $25.9 billion at the end of Q1, up 63% year-on-year, and will reach $29 billion with the Q2 signings.

    03

    Technology Leadership & Platform Differentiation

    CoreWeave continues to set new technology performance benchmarks, being the first to deploy NVIDIA's GB200 Grace Blackwell systems at scale and ramping Blackwell revenue in Q1. The company's MLPerf Inference V5.0 results set an industry benchmark with GB200 Superchips. CoreWeave also released its next-generation AI object storage and Kubernetes services, purpose-built for demanding AI workloads, and announced support for NVIDIA's AI enterprise software and Cloud Functions (NVCF).

    04

    Infrastructure Scaling & Financing Strategy

    CoreWeave operates a network of 33 purpose-built AI data centers across the U.S. and Europe, supported by 420 megawatts of active power, with total contracted power extending to approximately 1.6 gigawatts. The company has raised over $21 billion to expand its infrastructure and data center capacity. Its capital expenditures are success-based, tied to multiyear contracted revenue, utilizing self-amortizing debt facilities to maintain low leverage multiples. In Q1, approximately 300 megawatts of incremental contracted power were added.

    05

    Go-to-Market Expansion & Weights & Biases Acquisition

    The acquisition of Weights & Biases, a leading platform for AI developers with over 1,400 customers, significantly expands CoreWeave's reach into the enterprise market. The company also expanded its global footprint, including the opening of a new data center in Spain in partnership with MERLIN Edged, with Mistral AI as an anchor client. This expansion aims to serve growing demand in new markets and diversify the customer base beyond large labs and hyperscalers.

    06

    Impact of Accelerated Investments

    To meet accelerating customer demand, CoreWeave is adjusting its plans to increase and pull in investments in its platform. This strategic decision is reflected in the increased CapEx guidance for Q2 ($3 billion to $3.5 billion) and FY25 ($20 billion to $23 billion). These accelerated investments are expected to have a near-term impact on adjusted operating income margins, as the scale of infrastructure brought online this year is more than double the life-to-date deployed power.

    AI-generated summary of the company’s earnings call. Not investment advice.