TLDR
- CoreWeave (CRWV) fell over 8% in Friday pre-market trading after Morgan Stanley issued a Hold rating with a $99 price target
- Senior insider Brannin McBee sold roughly 133,330 shares on February 17, cutting his stake by about 29%
- Blue Owl Capital failed to secure funding for its data center deal with CoreWeave, adding to the pressure
- Q4 earnings are due February 26; analysts expect revenue of $1.53 billion, up 105% year over year
- Wall Street consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $125.45, implying around 33% upside
CoreWeave (CRWV) stock dropped more than 8% in Friday pre-market trading, hitting around $90 after closing at $97.14 the previous session.
CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV
The selloff came after Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss initiated coverage with an “equal weight” (Hold) rating and a $99 price target. That implies about 10% upside from current levels, well below the Wall Street average.
Weiss pointed to operational slip-ups in a tight supply market as the root of his concern. He said the company has struggled to meet customer demand, and some investors have taken that grievance to court.
Morgan Stanley laid out what it would need to see to upgrade the stock: active power scaled beyond 850 megawatts, past data center delays resolved, construction projects converting into real capital spending, and a broader, more diversified customer base.
The timing matters. CoreWeave reports Q4 fiscal 2025 earnings on Thursday, February 26, just days away.
Analysts expect revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, which would be 105% growth year over year. Adjusted loss per share is forecast at $0.50, an improvement from the $0.80 loss posted in the same quarter last year.
Weiss noted that expectations heading into the print are already elevated, even after Nvidia committed to a $2 billion deal tied to CoreWeave developing over 5 gigawatts of capacity by 2030.
Insider Selling Adds Pressure
On top of the analyst downgrade, senior insider Brannin McBee sold approximately 133,330 shares on February 17 at an average price of around $91.73 to $91.81. That transaction reduced his ownership stake by roughly 29%.
Following the sales, McBee still directly owns 248,664 shares valued at around $22.8 million. The transactions were disclosed in SEC filings.
Blue Owl Capital also failed to lock down funding for a planned data center deal with CoreWeave, which added another layer of uncertainty to an already rough day for the stock.
The Bull Case Still Exists
Despite the negativity, the broader analyst picture isn’t all bad. CoreWeave carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $125.45, based on 17 buys, 12 holds, and one sell across Wall Street.
Deutsche Bank recently upgraded the stock to Buy with a $140 target. Nvidia’s latest 13F filing showed it still holds CoreWeave among its neocloud positions.
The company’s reported backlog sits at around $55 billion, which gives some revenue visibility. However, that backlog exists alongside roughly $29 billion in debt and a current ratio of just 0.49, which points to limited near-term liquidity.
Several securities fraud class action lawsuits have also been filed against the company, creating litigation risk that investors will need to watch.
CoreWeave’s 50-day moving average stands at $86.50, while its 200-day moving average is $101.09. The stock is up roughly 142% over the past year.
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