Nvidia -backed cloud company CoreWeave deserves the benefit of the doubt from investors, according to veteran tech analyst Paul Meeks, who issued a bullish call after CoreWeave’s recent sell-off. Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital Markets and a tech analyst or portfolio manager since 1992, began research coverage of CoreWeave, a specialized cloud provider, with a buy rating and $100 price target, suggesting the stock could gain almost 17% from its Thursday close. “Ours is not a call that the AI Bubble will not pop because of course it will, and even before then this and related stocks may need to be sold, but, in the meantime, over the next two years, we see CRWV first bouncing back to $100 (+18%) and then retesting its recent (October 10, 2025) $153 peak, as investors regain confidence in the company to deliver its backlog, and with less overall concern that the ‘end is nigh’ for AI infrastructure building,” Meeks wrote in a Thursday note to clients. CoreWeave plunged 37% this quarter after cutting its prior guidance for full-year 2025 revenue a month ago, acknowledging a construction delay at one of its 41 data centers. Shares have also fallen amid the broader market’s increased scrutiny of artificial intelligence demand, debt funding used for AI projects and elevated valuations. CRWV NBIS 1Y mountain 1-year performance of CoreWeave and Nebius ‘neocloud’ stocks. “Conspiracy theories have spread among investors since then, and the overall industry narrative has clearly shifted to fear the AI Bubble will soon burst and CRWV will be a victim as the largest ‘neocloud,'” Meeks said. “Although CRWV is in investors’ penalty box, we believe the stock significantly overstates the risk that it will not deliver its $56 billion multi-year revenue backlog. We believe its payments from hyperscalers, which support its capital expenditures, are secure for several years,” Meeks continued. “These behemoths have the financial wherewithal to continue spending, and, perhaps more importantly, each of them views early and aggressive AI infrastructure building as a key competitive advantage.” If backlogs were to fall, Meeks said that CoreWeave’s backstop from Nvidia could absorb “any extra capacity for seven years.” CoreWeave buys Nvidia’s graphics processing units and rents them out to customers. At the end of the third quarter, Nvidia owned 6.56% of CoreWeave, a stake that today is worth some $2.1 billion, according to FactSet data. CoreWeave, which went public in March, was backed by Nvidia before its debut and sold more shares to Nvidia in the IPO. Looking ahead, Meeks believes that CoreWeave will be the clear leader among neoclouds . A neocloud is a specialized cloud provider offering high-performance computing, particularly Graphics-Processing-Units- as-a-Service aimed at making AI and machine-learning workloads more efficient. Nebius, a Dutch company that runs another public neocloud, has soared 250% this year on the back of robust AI demand. But CoreWeave’s 2026 revenue should be nearly five times Nebius’s, Meeks said. Wall Street unfairly values Nebius at 7.3 times 2026 revenue, while CoreWeave sells for just 2.8 times Meeks own sales number, said the Northwestern MBA who once managed more than $7 billion in six technology mutual funds for Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. “CRWV does not deserve to trade at such a discount given that there is little reason to believe that the economics of their businesses will be much different in the long run,” he said. Meeks’ $100 price target falls in the middle of a wide range among analysts, between $36 at the low end and $234 at the high, according to LSEG. The Street’s consensus price target of $131 suggests about 51% upside for CoreWeave.
