Q1 revenue guidance falls short of expectations! CoreWeave (CRWV.US) hit with a Citigroup "downgrade" post-earnings: 2026 EPS forecast cut by nearly $4.

After the leader in cloud AI computing power rental, CoreWeave (CRWV.US), announced its fourth quarter performance and guidance for 2025, Citigroup lowered its profit forecasts for the company. Citigroup reduced CoreWeave's full-year earnings forecast for 2026 from $0.75 per share to -$2.97, and for 2027 from $3.11 to -$1.74. In addition, Citigroup also lowered CoreWeave's target price from $135 to $126. Analysts at Citigroup, led by Tyler Radke, stated in an investor report released on Tuesday, "Considering that the fourth quarter performance fell short of expectations, and the first quarter guidance is more in line with reality (two-thirds of the quarter have passed), we have lowered our revenue and operating profit expectations for the first quarter of 2026 to match the company's guidance." They added, "Full-year revenue for 2026 is slightly higher than the company's guidance, as the likelihood of regular outperformance in the coming quarters is greater. Taking into account the greater mismatch between revenue recognition timing and expense outlay in 2026, we have reduced the operating profit margin by about 13.5 percentage points and lowered earnings per share by $3.72." CoreWeave's earnings report released last week showed a 110% year-on-year increase in fourth quarter revenue to $1.57 billion, slightly exceeding the market's average expectation of $1.55 billion; with a loss of $0.89 per share, falling short of market expectations. In terms of guidance, the company expects first quarter revenue to be between $1.9 billion and $2 billion, lower than the market consensus of $2.29 billion. Furthermore, the company expects full-year revenue for 2026 to be $12 billion to $13 billion, with adjusted operating profit expected to be between $900 million and $1.1 billion. The company plans to set its capital expenditure target for 2026 at $30 billion to $35 billion, far exceeding the $10.31 billion for 2025. Due to the guidance for the first quarter falling short of expectations, CoreWeave's stock price plummeted by 18.51% last Friday.