CoreWeave (CRWV) Stock Is Surging Thursday: What's Driving The Action?

Shares of AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV) are soaring in Thursday morning trading after receiving a vote of confidence from Citigroup.

The bank upgraded the stock to Buy from a previous Neutral rating and announced a new price target of $160, suggesting substantial upside and providing a powerful counter-narrative to recent bearish sentiment.

What To Know: The bullish call from Citi comes during a period of intense volatility for the stock, which has become a focal point of debate on Wall Street.

Investors have been weighing the company's ambitious growth strategy, including its pending $9 billion all-stock acquisition of Core Scientific and a $6 billion plan for a new AI data center, against considerable risks.

Citi’s upgrade directly challenges the bearish case that has recently gained traction. Just last week, HSBC initiated coverage with a Reduce rating and a stark $32 price target, citing extreme customer concentration as its primary concern.

HSBC noted that a single client, Microsoft Corp, accounted for 72% of CoreWeave’s first-quarter revenue. That bearish call followed a string of downgrades in early July from firms worried about the high capital expenditures required for its expansion.

Thursday’s rally, sparked by the new analyst rating, underscores the ongoing tug-of-war between CoreWeave’s immense growth potential and its significant operational and financial risks, with Wall Street’s divided opinions acting as key catalysts for the stock’s direction.

Benzinga Edge Rankings: Based on financial data from Benzinga Edge, CoreWeave’s market capitalization stands at approximately $55.61 billion. From a technical standpoint, the stock’s Relative Strength Index is at 41, suggesting it is in neutral territory and neither overbought nor oversold.

Notably, short interest represents 7.13% of the stock’s float, with a ‘days to cover’ ratio of 1.28, indicating a significant level of bearish bets against the company.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, CRWV shares are trading higher by 12.2% to $115.43 Thursday morning. The stock has a 52-week high of $187.00 and a 52-week low of $33.52.

Read Also: Applied Digital Stock Is Surging Thursday: What’s Going On?

How To Buy CRWV Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for CoreWeave – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

In the case of CoreWeave, which is trading at $115.43 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 0.87 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

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