CoreWeave (CRWV) Stock Slides as Bernstein Issues Bearish Call and Cramer Favors NVIDIA

TLDR

• Bernstein launched coverage of CoreWeave with an underperform rating and $56 price objective
• Shares were changing hands near $79.50 at Wednesday’s market close — significantly higher than the analyst’s target
• Madison Rezaei from Bernstein cautioned that hyperscalers won’t likely commit to additional major deals with CRWV
• CNBC’s Jim Cramer recommended viewers choose NVIDIA over CoreWeave
• In January, NVIDIA put $2 billion into CoreWeave, acquiring 22.9 million shares priced at $87.20 apiece

Shares of CoreWeave fell 2% on Thursday following a bearish initiation from Bernstein, coupled with Jim Cramer’s statement that he’d prefer investors choose NVIDIA over the cloud infrastructure provider.

CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV

Madison Rezaei, an analyst at Bernstein, established a $56 price objective for CRWV — representing approximately 30% downside from Wednesday’s closing price of $79.50.

While Rezaei recognized that CoreWeave has successfully taken advantage of strong demand for GPU computing resources, questions remain about the company’s future trajectory.

“With a plethora of options, we do not believe hyperscalers will be incentivized to sign further large contracts with CRWV,” Rezaei wrote.

The fundamental bearish thesis is simple: major cloud infrastructure providers including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud are more inclined to develop their own competing capabilities rather than continue outsourcing to CoreWeave.

“Hyperscalers are more likely to attempt head-on competition, going after GPU cloud business as the natural adjacency to traditional cloud, and cannibalizing CRWV’s market,” Rezaei added.

Rezaei also noted that as overall compute capacity availability improves across the market, CoreWeave could face heightened competitive threats from larger cloud infrastructure companies.

The research report arrived during an already challenging period for the shares, which have been swept up in the broader technology sector selloff this week.

Jim Cramer Weighs In

During Thursday’s broadcast, a caller to Cramer’s program inquired whether CRWV’s recent decline presented a buying opportunity.

Cramer expressed skepticism. “Man, you are going into the lion’s den,” he said. “I’d rather have you buy NVIDIA.”

He referenced multiple favorable catalysts for NVIDIA over the past 72 hours as justification for his preference for the semiconductor manufacturer.

Cramer also recalled an important chapter in CoreWeave’s narrative. On January 26, he emphasized that NVIDIA had committed an additional $2 billion to CoreWeave, purchasing 22.9 million shares at $87.20 each.

At the time, Cramer called it “a fantastic verification for CoreWeave,” describing the company as NVIDIA’s preferred chip distribution partner for customers who can’t get direct GPU allocations.

NVIDIA’s $2 Billion Bet

NVIDIA’s substantial investment continues to be a central element of CoreWeave’s investment narrative.

Jensen Huang made an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street with CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator to talk about the transaction.

The capital infusion demonstrated that CoreWeave occupies a strategic role in the artificial intelligence infrastructure ecosystem — serving as a distribution channel for NVIDIA’s chips to customers who lack direct access.

However, Bernstein’s analysis suggests this competitive edge could diminish as market dynamics evolve.

The stock declined 2% on Thursday during a trading session marked by widespread weakness among technology stocks. CRWV finished Wednesday’s session at $79.50, meaning Bernstein’s $56 price target implies approximately 30% downside from that closing level.