CoreWeave CEO Tells Employees $104B Order Backlog Covers All Debt After Selloff

CoreWeave Chief Executive Michael Intrator told employees in an internal memo on Oct. 14 that the company's order backlog of more than $104.2 billion is sufficient to cover all its debt obligations, attributing the recent market selloff to “misunderstanding and irrational behavior.”

CoreWeave disclosed that it ended the second quarter with $104.2 billion in revenue backlog, up from $99.4 billion in the first quarter, and added more than $25 billion in net new customer commitments in the third quarter.

The memo came after CoreWeave shares fell about 15.5% in a single day, with bonds trading at distressed levels and five-year credit default swaps implying a default probability above 50%. Other AI infrastructure names, including Oracle, Nebius, Applied Digital and Dell, also declined.

Analysts remained skeptical, noting that backlog does not equal cash and that fulfillment requires continued spending on GPUs, data centers and power. D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said that if CoreWeave borrows at 9% and can only generate 5% returns, “every step they take is destroying value.” The selloff was amplified by hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data, which pushed 10-year Treasury yields to around 5.19% and fueled expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike.