Daily newsletter · Thu 15 Oct 2026
CoreWeave's bonds now yield almost 15%, and its shares fell 15.46%
CoreWeave fell 15.46% to US$65.78 on Wednesday. The company rents out AI computing power from its data centres, and it has borrowed heavily to build them.
So what spooked investors? The bond market did. The yield on CoreWeave's US$1.25 billion of bonds due in 2032 climbed toward 15% during the day and closed at about 14.5%.
A bond's yield rises as its price falls. So a yield that high means lenders want a big reward for the risk of not being paid back. For comparison, the US government pays 5.19% to borrow for 10 years.
Chief executive Mike Intrator told staff the market was acting irrationally. He said CoreWeave's backlog of signed contracts is more than enough to cover its debts. Elon Musk's reply on X was one word: "Yikes."
The selling spread to other companies building AI capacity. Oracle fell 8.83%, while Dell and Nebius each lost more than 10%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 4.30%, its sixth straight fall, and Nvidia lost 3.16%.
CoreWeave's bond prices more than its share price. Much of the AI build-out runs on borrowed money, and hot inflation makes borrowing dearer. I'd want to see those yields come back down before treating Wednesday as a one-day fright.
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