Backblaze (BLZE) Stock Soars 44% on Massive $335M CoreWeave Storage Agreement

Key Highlights

• Shares of Backblaze soared 44% to $11.70 following the announcement of a five-year, $335 million storage agreement with CoreWeave
• The partnership will deliver multi-exabyte HDD-based storage infrastructure designed for CoreWeave’s artificial intelligence operations
• This single agreement is worth more than four times Backblaze’s entire 2025 cloud storage revenue of $79.9 million
• Wall Street analysts responded with upgrades — Craig-Hallum established a $16 target, while Citizens boosted its forecast to $14
• Year-to-date, BLZE has climbed approximately 150%, significantly outpacing the Russell 3000’s 7.2% gain during the same timeframe

Shares of Backblaze experienced an extraordinary trading session on Tuesday, skyrocketing 44% to reach $11.70 following the company’s announcement of a landmark storage partnership with artificial intelligence infrastructure provider CoreWeave.

Backblaze, Inc., BLZE

The five-year arrangement commits CoreWeave to paying Backblaze $335 million for multi-exabyte storage infrastructure to power its artificial intelligence operations. The structure divides responsibilities with CoreWeave managing hardware and capacity requirements, while Backblaze oversees storage software and operational management.

For perspective: Backblaze generated only $79.9 million in cloud storage revenue throughout the entirety of 2025. This single agreement represents nearly quadruple that annual figure.

Tuesday’s impressive 44% rally actually ranks as the stock’s second-strongest performance this year. On May 5, BLZE skyrocketed 64% following exceptional Q1 results and robust annual recurring revenue expansion.

First quarter fiscal 2026 results significantly exceeded Wall Street’s projections. The company delivered earnings per share of $0.04, crushing expectations for a loss of $0.0043, while revenue reached $38.7 million compared to the consensus estimate of $37.79 million.

Wall Street Reacts with Upgrades and Higher Targets

The CoreWeave partnership sparked immediate analyst revisions. William Blair’s Jason Ader upgraded Backblaze to Market Perform from Underperform — reversing a previous downgrade issued just months earlier — characterizing the agreement as “meaningful validation” of Backblaze’s strategic position as an essential HDD-based storage foundation for AI infrastructure.

Craig-Hallum took a more bullish stance, elevating the stock to Buy from Hold while establishing a $16 price objective.

Citizens similarly increased its price forecast to $14 from $8, keeping its Market Outperform rating intact. Analyst Rustam Kanga highlighted the CoreWeave partnership as confirmation of Backblaze’s strategic value in AI storage solutions for neocloud providers seeking third-party storage alternatives.

CoreWeave VP Nick Hoover praised Backblaze for establishing a “reputation for making complex, HDD-based storage infrastructure reliable and easy-to-consume at scale.”

Hard Disk Drives Prove Essential for AI Infrastructure

Backblaze’s infrastructure relies on hard disk drives — a more economical alternative to flash memory, though with slower performance characteristics. This technology choice was previously viewed skeptically. The CoreWeave deal demonstrates that HDD storage maintains significant relevance in AI data center environments.

Not all storage sector participants benefited Tuesday, however. Traditional hard-drive manufacturers Western Digital and Seagate declined 8.1% and 4.9%, respectively, as market participants shifted away from hardware stocks following their strong second quarter performance.

CoreWeave itself dropped 5% during the session, illustrating that partnership announcements often create divergent market reactions.

BLZE has now gained approximately 150.2% year-to-date. The shares are trading close to their 52-week peak of $11.85, with the company’s market capitalization reaching $699.77 million. InvestingPro analysis suggests the stock currently trades above its Fair Value estimate.

Citizens maintains a separate $180 price objective on CoreWeave with a Market Outperform rating.