CoreWeave Shares Slide as Debt Concerns Meet Backlog Claims

CoreWeave shares fell about 15% on October 14 as investors weighed the company’s debt burden and the financing needs of its artificial-intelligence infrastructure expansion. Chief Executive Mike Intrator responded in an employee memo, saying the company’s reported backlog more than supports its debt obligations. The selloff came amid broader concerns about the cost of borrowing and the scale of spending on AI computing capacity. CoreWeave’s shares had dropped 20% over the first three sessions of the week, then closed Thursday, October 15, up 5.9%. That rebound followed remarks by Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang expressing optimism about CoreWeave, according to reports. The stock had given back some of the recovery in premarket trading Friday. Debt markets reflected continued concern. CoreWeave’s unsecured bonds due in 2032 traded below 80 cents on the dollar on October 14, with reported yields around 15%. On October 15, credit-default swaps on the company were reported to imply roughly a 63% chance of default within five years. Those figures are market-implied measures, not confirmation that CoreWeave will default. Intrator pointed to the company’s contracted business as...