CoreWeave Stock (CRWV): Cramer says the real backlog is bigger than you think

TLDR

• Jim Cramer claims CoreWeave’s contracted revenue backlog may be larger than the $99.4 billion already reported, citing analysis of third-party debt documents.
• CoreWeave generated $2.08 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2026, up 112% year over year, but posted a net loss of $740 million.
• Backlog increased from $30.1 billion in Q2 2025 to nearly $100 billion by March 2026, driven by Meta and OpenAI commitments.
• Major institutional investors including Vanguard increased their positions, while the CEO and CFO sold shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
• CRWV is trading around $117.95 with an average Wall Street price target of $131.52 and a Moderate Buy consensus rating.

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In a June 16 Mad Money segment, Jim Cramer explained that CoreWeave (CRWV) actually has more contracting demand than Wall Street currently expects — and that its next earnings report could prove that.

CoreWeave, Inc. Class of common stock, CRWV

Cramer pointed to a third-party research note reviewing CoreWeave’s debt documents, suggesting that the $99.4 billion backlog disclosed in the first quarter of 2026 may not tell the full story. “The backlog could be much larger when they report,” he added.

CRWV stock opened at $117.95 on Friday. The stock is up 49% year to date but is still down about 28% over the past 12 months. The 52-week range is $63.80 to $187.00.

The backlog of $99.4 billion through March 31, 2026 is already a staggering number. It built on a $21 billion commitment from Meta signed in March and about $22.4 billion in total commitments from OpenAI. CEO Michael Intrator called it “our strongest bookings quarter ever.” CoreWeave date.”

The trajectory behind this number is equally striking. Backlog reached $30.1 billion in the second quarter of 2025, rose to $55.6 billion in the third quarter, reached $66.8 billion in the fourth quarter, and then jumped to nearly $100 billion in the fourth quarter.

If Cramer’s source is correct and the debt documents indicate an additional contractual demand, the number mentioned in the next earnings call — currently estimated for around August 13, 2026 — could rise significantly.

Kramer put it in blunt terms: “If you want to launch a rocket into space with a data center… you can at least look at CoreWeave’s work, because they know how to build these rockets quickly.”

Growth issue

Revenue supports the case for rapid construction. Q1 2026 sales reached $2.078 billion, up 112% year over year, beating expectations by 6%. Full-year 2025 revenue was $5.131 billion, up 168% – making CoreWeave the fastest cloud company in history to reach $5 billion in annual revenue.

The company surpassed 1 GW of active capacity in the first quarter of 2026 and has more than 3.5 GW of contracted capacity, with a target of more than 8 GW by 2030. Nvidia It invested $2 billion in Class A shares and provided a $8.5 billion non-recourse deferred-draw loan facility. CoreWeave is also named NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud for inference on GB200 NVL72 devices.

Institutional interest has soared. Vanguard raised its position 275.6% in the fourth quarter to 27.9 million shares worth nearly $2 billion. Deutsche Bank increased its stake by more than 22,000%. Caitong International raised its holdings by 35.8%, making CRWV its sixth-largest position with approximately $9.99 million.

The risk aspect

The Q1 edition also showed why the bull case is not without friction. CoreWeave reported a net loss of $740 million. EPS came in at -$1.40, beating the consensus estimate of -$1.20. Interest expenses doubled to $536 million, and capital expenditures reached $7.695 billion in one quarter. Total liabilities now stand at $50.814 billion, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.68.

CEO Michael Entertur sold 200,000 shares on June 16 for an average of $116.65, for a total of $23.33 million. CFO Nitin Agrawal sold 58,429 shares at $116.70 for $6.82 million. Both transactions were executed under prearranged 10b5-1 plans.

A securities fraud class action lawsuit alleging hidden delays in data center construction remains active in the background.

The Wall Street consensus is at Moderate Buy, with 20 Buy ratings, 12 Hold, and 2 Sell. The average price target is $131.52.