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CoreWeave stock dropped 8% Monday after the AI cloud computing company announced plans to raise another $2 billion, this time through convertible debt, to finance its rapid build-out of new data centers. On Tuesday, the company said it would increase the total offering to $2.25 billion. CoreWeave, which sells access to powerful Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to run AI models, may be a bellwether in an industry placing unprecedented bets on an AI boom some believe is just around the corner. CoreWeave is a pick-and-shovel infrastructure company in AI (like Nvidia) whose fortunes may test the narrative that tech companiesand their stock valuesare riding the long wave of the next technological transformation. CoreWeaves stock may be an especially twitchy meter because investors rosiest expectations for how that narrative will play out appear to be already priced in. An 8% drop suggests that investor skepticism of the reality and sustainability of the AI boom is growing. The new convertible notes are targeted at investors willing to loan CoreWeave money at a relatively low interest rate (1.75%), in exchange for the option of converting the notes to equity shares when they mature in 2031. The company also plans to grant initial purchasers an option to buy an additional $300 million in notes. CoreWeave said it raised $1.75 billion through the sale of similar notes during the third quarter.But the new debt raise comes at a sensitive time. CoreWeave continues to aggressively raise and spend money for its infrastructure expansion, even as its margins fall, making some investors nervous. The company has already raised roughly $14 billion through debt and equity this year alone ($25 billion in total). It reported paying $311 million in interest in Q3 2025triple the amount it paid in the same quarter a year earlier. The company already has 41 data centers in its portfolio, CEO Mike Intrator said. The company also buys data center space from third parties. CoreWeave executives believe the company will spend between $12 billion and $14 billion during 2025, and that that amount will double in 2026. CoreWeave has seen its revenue surge: It rose 134% year over year to $1.36 billion in Q3. But its operating margins have suffered, falling to 4%, compared with 20% in the year-earlier quarter (or 16% from 21% when nonoperational expenses are factored out), as its infrastructure expenses mounted. The company remains unprofitable, posting an adjusted net loss of $41 million in Q3. Meanwhile, demand for AI computing is high, and the company has been struggling to keep enough GPUs humming to fulfill it. Its shares plunged 45% in November after the company gave full-year revenue guidance below analyst expectations. Company executives said CoreWeave has a backlog of contracted but not yet recognized revenue worth $55.6 billion, nearly double the $30.1 billion reported in Q2. The company says it has major contracts with Meta ($14.2 billion), OpenAI ($22.4 billion across multiple agreements), and Nvidia ($6.3 billion). But the backlog may not fully translate into revenue, investors worry, especially given CoreWeaves expansion problems. And yet the company expects capital expenditures to more than double in 2026 compared with 2025, raising questions about how much more debt it will need to take on. Investors reaction to CoreWeaves sour full-year revenue guidance may not have been so dramatic if much of the market wasnt already fearful of a so-called AI bubble, or the idea that AI-heavy companies like CoreWeave are way overvalued and overleveraged. CoreWeaves decision to issue short-term debt reflects managements strong belief that the data center capacity the money will fund will quickly translate into increased revenues. While equity investors reacted negatively to the offer of the convertible notes, the corporate bond market has shown strong demand for them in the past. Initially, the new convertible notes will be offered to institutional investors in private transactions. However, CoreWeaves past debt offerings have seen strong investor demandin part because of bullishness about the companys business prospects and in part because of the relatively high interest rates (9% and 9.25%). In fact, the tech sectors biggest players are now placing unprecedented bets on AI. The market caps of these companies, and by extension the wider stock market, seem to rest on the idea that AI models will soon transform business and bring about untold efficiencies and abundance. The big questions are whether or not said AI transformation will happen fast enough and last long enough to sustain VC-backed AI startups, and the stock prices of larger, publicly traded tech companies. Some longtime investors are reminded of the irrational exuberance that propped up the ill-fated dot-com companies of the late 1990s.
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E-Commerce
Paramount Skydance‘s hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery places CNN and its sister cable networks squarely back into what is likely to be an extended period of management limbo. There was some relief at CNN with last Friday’s announcement that Netflix was buying Warner’s studio and streaming businesses, since the cable network would not be a part of that deal. But that quickly changed on Monday with Paramount’s announced bid, which includes the cable assets that Netflix doesn’t want and, if successful, opens the possibility of a combined CNN and CBS News. The management uncertainty adds to what is already a challenging time at CNN, where there was no doubt who was in charge before swashbuckling founder Ted Turner sold his company in 1996. That era might as well be the roaring ’20s for how long ago it feels, said Ross Benes, senior analyst at emarketer.com. The dueling bids between Paramount and Netflix now lead to more uncertainty and greater anxiety among the current CNN staff and among those of us who served for many years as leaders of CNN under Ted, said Tom Johnson, former CNN president in the 1990s. Paramount’s bid, which must be approved by shareholders and regulators, could be seen favorably by President Donald Trump, who is closely allied with Paramount Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison as well as his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison. But Trump has already expressed anger at the company on social media for Sunday’s 60 Minutes report on former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Prior to Friday’s announcement, Warner Bros. Discovery had said it planned to spin off its cable television networks, including CNN, Discovery, HGTV, the Food Network, and TLC, into a separate company. The growth of streaming has made cable networks an unattractive business. CNN’s television ratings have tumbled to the extent that it is firmly the third-rated cable news network behind Fox News Channel and MS NOW, formerly MSNBC. Its CEO, Mark Thompson, has aggressively moved into digital with a new subscription service and said that management of Discovery Global, the spinoff company, has already approved a 2026 budget investing in the plan. I know this strategic review has been a period of inevitable uncertainty across CNN and indeed the whole of WBD, Thompson told staff in a memo Friday. Of course, I can’t promise you that the media attention and noise around the sale of our parent will die down overnight. But I do think the path to the successful transformation of this great news enterprise remains open. Thompson had no additional comment on Monday, a spokeswoman said. Since Paramount’s takeover of CBS News this past summer, the network has taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief. Weiss is moderating a prime-time discussion this weekend with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. During an appearance on CNBC Monday, Ellison answered, yeah, when asked if he would combine CNN’s newsgathering operation with CBS News. What exactly that means is unclear. We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally, in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle, Ellison said. Trump has spoken highly of both Ellison and his billionaire father. But he was clearly angry about Lesley Stahl’s 60 Minutes interview with former MAGA supporter Greene, who broke with him and recently resigned from Congress. Trump said on Truth Social that his real problem with the show is that the new corporate ownership allowed it to air. THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, Trump said, adding he believed that 60 Minutes had gotten worse from his perspective since the changeover. CNN is not likely to find out soon who its new owners would be. Even before the Paramount bid, experts had predicted the Netflix deal would face more than a year of regulatory hurdles. There is such a need for independent, unbiased news services, Johnson said. I so hope that the new CNN owners will see that as their fundamental mission. If Netflix eventually wins, emarketer.com’s Benes predicted it would be likely that the spinoff company, Discovery Global, would be shopped around to other buyers. CNN will be in limbo for a while no matter which bidder purchases CNN, he said. David Bauder, AP media writer
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump will road-test his claims that he’s tackling Americans’ affordability woes at a Tuesday rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvaniashifting an argument made in Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event. The trip comes as polling consistently shows that public trust in Trump’s economic leadership has faltered. Following dismal results for Republicans in last month’s off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump. The president has consistently blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation even as his own aggressive implementation of policies has pushed up prices that had been settling down after spiking in 2022 to a four-decade high. Inflation began to accelerate after Trump announced his sweeping Liberation Day tariffs in April. Companies warned that the import taxes could be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices and reduced hiring, yet Trump continues to insist that inflation has faded. Were bringing prices way down,” Trump said at the White House on Monday. You can call it affordability or anything you wantbut the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and were the ones that are fixing it. The president’s reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally could give a signal of just how much voters trust his claims. Monroe County flipped to Trump in the 2024 election after having backed Biden in 2020, helping the Republican to win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus. As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting, and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York Cityunder two hours by carhas also attracted people seeking more affordable housing. It’s also an area that could help decide control of the House in next year’s midterm elections. Trump is holding his rally in a congressional district held by freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats and won his 2024 race by about 1.5 percentage points, among the nations closest. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show The Mom View that Trump would be on the campaign trail next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race. Wiles, who helped manage Trump’s 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that. Were actually going to turn that on its head,” Wiles said, “and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters. Wiles added, So I havent quite broken it to him yet, but hes going to campaign like its 2024 again. Trump has said he’s giving consumers relief by relaxing fuel efficiency standards for autos and signing agreements to reduce list prices on prescription drugs. Trump has also advocated for cuts to the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest ratewhich influences the supply of money in the U.S. economy. He argues that would reduce the cost of mortgages and auto loans, although critics warn that cuts of the scale sought by Trump could instead worsen inflation. The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity, and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing. Since the elections in November when Democrats won key races with a focus on kitchen table issues, Trump has often dismissed the concerns about prices as a hoax and a con job to suggest that he bears no responsibility for inflation, even though he campaigned on his ability to quickly bring down prices. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. By Josh Boak and Marc Levy, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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