Investors have been searching for the next breakout stock following the success of names like Palantir (PLTR) and Nvidia (NVDA) . Now, one under-the-radar AI infrastructure firm has quietly surged onto the scene, delivering explosive growth and winning support from Nvidia and OpenAI just weeks after its IPO.
That company is CoreWeave, now Nvidia’s largest holding, making up more than 78% of its disclosed portfolio.
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CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV) is a cloud infrastructure company specializing in GPU-accelerated computing for artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads. Founded in 2017, the company transitioned from cryptocurrency mining to providing AI-focused cloud services.
On March 28, CoreWeave launched its initial public offering, pricing shares at $40 each — below its anticipated range of $47 to $55. Still, the IPO raised $1.5 billion, making it one of the largest AI-related listings since 2021. Since then, the stock is up more than 150%.
Its data centers are equipped with Nvidia GPUs, and Nvidia holds approximately a 7% stake in CoreWeave.
On May 14, CoreWeave reported better-than-expected revenue on Wednesday in the company’s first earnings release since going public. CoreWeave reported a 420% year-over-year revenue increase to $981.6 million for the first quarter.
Despite this growth, the company’s net loss widened to $314.6 million from $129.2 million a year earlier, partly driven by $177 million in stock-based compensation linked to its IPO.
“Demand for our platform is robust and accelerating as AI leaders seek the highly performant AI cloud infrastructure required for the most advanced applications,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Intrator said in a statement.
CoreWeave expects revenue of $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion in 2025, which implies a growth of 363% and surpasses Wall Street forecasts. It also projects capex of $20 billion to $23 billion for the year.
In the first quarter, OpenAI signed a five-year deal with CoreWeave worth up to $11.9 billion. In addition, the two companies signed another $4 billion contract after the quarter ended, Intrator told CNBC.
Nvidia’s backing can likely send a stock soaring.
Image source: Edelson/Getty Images
Nvidia’s AI portfolio
Nvidia has been invested in CoreWeave since April 2023. In the first quarter this year, Nvidia bought 24,182,460 shares after the company’s IPO, according to data from WhaleWisdom based on 13F filings.
Alongside CoreWeave, Nvidia’s investment portfolio includes several other bets in technology and AI.
Related: Veteran fund manager unveils bold Nvidia stock price target after rally
As of the first quarter of 2025, Nvidia also owns shares in British semiconductor company Arm Holdings (ARM) , U.S. data center firm Applied Digital (APLD) , AI drug firm Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX) , Russian tech firm Yandex (YNDX) , and Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide (WRD) .
Nvidia’s backing can send a stock soaring, but it doesn’t always last.
In February 2024, Nvidia disclosed a stake in SoundHound AI (SOUN) , sending shares up 567% that year. But by early 2025, Nvidia revealed it had sold out completely, and SoundHound has been sliding since, down more than 50% year-to-date.
Citi raises CoreWeave price target but flags “high risk”
Citi analysts led by Tyler Radke more than doubled the firm’s price target for CoreWeave stock to $94 from $43, while reiterating a “Neutral/High Risk” rating, according to a research report on May 21.
The firm said it updated the CoreWeave model following a “strong Q1 out-of-the-gate,” which is “a solid start for CoreWeave as a public company.”
Related: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller quintuples stake in top semiconductor stock
“Overall we think the print reinforces CoreWeave’s high-growth status, especially with recent $4B OpenAI expansion deal, and likely assuages investor concerns around AI capex/infrastructure slowing,” the analysts wrote.
Citi said it sees “significant increase in near-term demand,” “some new enterprise customer adoption,” and “high customer concentration.”
The analysts raised Q2 and full-year revenue forecasts for CoreWeave to the high end of guidance, expecting strong near-term beats. They also lifted estimates for the company’s interest expenses and capital spending in Q2 and full-year 2025.
Still, the analysts warned of “high risks.”
More Nvidia:
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“We reiterate our Neutral/High Risk rating as we’d like to see more progress on profitability and more customer diversification,” the analysts added.
CoreWeave closed at $100.16 on May 22, putting Citi’s already-doubled $94 price target below the current price. Meanwhile, data from TipRanks shows an average target of $47.42, pointing to a potential 55% downside risk.
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