CoreWeave Q3 Beats, Anthropic IPO Draws Massive Demand, Huang Crisis Deepens

CoreWeave posted $3.66 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 168% year over year, beating the $3.6 billion consensus and pulling the wider AI trade out of its October slump. The relief lasted exactly one trading day. After the bell on the 11th, fresh reports of a second Jensen Huang affair sent Nvidia down more than 8% in after-hours trading and erased all of its regular-session gains.

What did CoreWeave actually report?

Operating profit quadrupled to $207 million from $52 million. The order backlog (contracted but unfulfilled revenue) stood at $132.5 billion as of end-September. The company raised full-year guidance to $13–13.3 billion in revenue and $1.275–1.375 billion in adjusted operating profit.

CEO Michael Intrator called it a landmark quarter, with revenue up more than $1 billion from the prior quarter. On regulation risk after the Democrats' midterm sweep, he was blunt: "We do not anticipate the impact of seismic regulatory changes." The overwhelming majority of the company's power is already operating or fully permitted, he said. He also sent a letter to Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa stressing the company is bipartisan.

• No unsecured notes at the parent level through next year
• New fundraising over that period: less than $5 billion
• Compute prices rose again in the fourth quarter, offsetting cost increases
• Demand is growing faster than infrastructure can be supplied, per Intrator

Why insider sales stung, and why October was ugly

Intrator told CNBC his 10b5-1 plan (a pre-filed SEC-approved insider stock-sale schedule) is on hold until a material change in the share price. Under a plan set up last November, he sold 8.26 million shares. The three co-founders — Intrator, Chief Strategy Officer Brian Venturo and Chief Development Officer Brannin McBee — have sold $2.4 billion of stock this year, drawing market criticism.

The October fear was concrete. On the 14th of last month, CoreWeave's 2032 bond yield jumped to nearly 15%. On the 15th, its credit default swaps (contracts pricing default risk) implied a five-year default probability above 60%. CoreWeave runs a circular financing model: borrow against Nvidia GPUs to buy newer GPUs and build data centers leased to big tech. It only works while the AI boom and rising compute prices hold.

How strong is Anthropic's IPO?

Bloomberg reported on the 11th that investor demand runs several times the 825 million shares on offer. Anthropic set an indicative range of $70–78 on the 10th, with final pricing on the 18th and Nasdaq listing on the 19th. The public offering raises up to $64.4 billion; private deals with Google, Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Micron, Microsoft and TSMC add $26 billion — $90.4 billion total.

At the $74 midpoint: Google and Nvidia take $10 billion each, AMD $2.5 billion, Broadcom, Micron and Microsoft $1 billion each, TSMC Partners about $500 million. Those shares carry no lockup. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are absent.

If priced as planned, Anthropic would surpass SpaceX's record $85.7 billion Nasdaq raise of June 12. The target valuation is about $1.4 trillion on a fully diluted basis (counting options and unvested shares) — below the $2 trillion previously cited.

Goldman Sachs, lead underwriter, projects revenue of $52 billion this year, $136 billion next year, $442 billion in 2029 and about $685 billion in 2030 — up from $4.59 billion last year. Operating losses hit $40.4 billion next year, with profit only in 2029. Free cash flow: minus $12.8 billion in Q4 this year, minus $65.7 billion next year, plus $33.6 billion in 2030. Anthropic has roughly $900 billion in computing-capacity commitments. It released Claude Mythos 5.2 and Claude Fable 5.2 on the 9th — 30% faster output, 20% cheaper.

What does the Huang affair change for Nvidia — and Korea?

The New York Times reported on the 11th that Huang also had an affair with Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia's vice president for healthcare, seen showing affection at a San Jose hotel during March's GTC conference. The Wall Street Journal reports the board will meet to decide his fate — a reversal from the 8th, when an independent committee said it found no basis to conclude national security or company secrets were leaked.

The Information previously reported that Alice Huang, identified by U.S. intelligence as a Chinese spy, used her affair with the CEO to smuggle about $7.5 billion worth of export-barred Nvidia chips into China. Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House China committee, set a midnight deadline for Huang to agree to a closed-door briefing or face a subpoena. Senator Kevin Cramer told Politico Huang should resign.

Nvidia has no succession plan. The Times reports Huang rejected years of internal proposals, fearing a succession contest would spark strife. Analysts see no clear heir: not his children — Madison Huang, Spencer Huang, son-in-law Nico Caprez — nor CFO Colette Kress or VP Ian Buck. CoreWeave fell more than 6% on the news; AMD and Broadcom rose about 4% each.

For Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the stakes are real. Shake Nvidia's one-man management structure, and Korea's memory suppliers swing with it. Watch how Huang, founder and controlling shareholder, fights his way out.