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CoreWeave has significantly reduced the size and value of the hot-anticipated initial public offering, another sign of shaking investors’ demand for Wall Street’s artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The cloud computing provider raised $1.5 billion when the stock rose on Thursday evening, according to people familiar with the issue. CoreWeave initially aimed at raising $4 billion, dropping that figure to $2.7 billion last week when it launched its roadshow to generate interest on its stock.
CoreWeave sold 37.5 million shares at $40 per share, as they wanted to sell about 49 million shares. The new price will give the company a market value of around $23 billion when it opens trading on New York’s Nasdaq on Friday morning.
Nvidia, which already owns around 6% of CoreWeave, is planning to buy about $250 million in stock, people familiar with the issue said later on Thursday ahead of pricing. The chip manufacturer is one of CoreWeave’s biggest suppliers and one of its biggest customers.
The cuts show dramatic climbs against what is expected to be one of the biggest technology lists of the year. CoreWeave was last valued at $23 billion in its latest private market valuation in October 2024. The initial discussion with the bankers tried to cherish the company for over $35 billion in IPOs.
CoreWeave and Nvidia declined to comment.
The share sale on Thursday was closely monitored as an indication that Tech IPO’s annual freeze period has ended. Fintech startups Klarna and Chime, retail trading platform Etoro and ticket group Stubhub have also applied for the list, and are expected to come up in the next two months.
Venture Global, a US natural gas exporter who was billed as a hit IPO, has fallen by more than 50% since its launch in late January.
This week’s Financial Times reported that CoreWeave violated several terms of its $7.6 billion loan last year, causing what is called a technical default.
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The New Jersey-based company has undergone intense scrutiny in recent weeks for its massive debt burden, its close relationship with Nvidia and future maturities with billions of dollars in loans. CoreWeave’s biggest customer, Microsoft, has stepped away from some of its commitments to the company, FT reported this month. CoreWeave refused to have the contract cancelled.
The planned list comes as the Trump administration’s aggressive trade agenda has been shaking the US stock market in recent weeks, particularly striking stocks in tech companies.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the world’s largest 30 chipmakers, lost 11% this year. Nvidia slipped 19% over the same period.
Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai on Tuesday warned about a “bubble” that could emerge in the construction of the data center, injecting more investors’ sentiments into the middle of CoreWeave’s Pre-IPO investors’ roadshow. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are the major underwriters of this agreement.
This story has been revised to clarify the role of Nvidia in the IPO.
