CoreWeave Stock Jumps on Upgrade. Why Citi Analyst Says Buy.

Citi Research upgraded CoreWeave stock to Buy from Neutral. (Courtesy CoreWeave)

CoreWeave stock was rising sharply Thursday after a Wall Street analyst upgraded the artificial-intelligence cloud vendor.

Tyler Radke of Citi Research upgraded CoreWeave stock to Buy from Neutral, and maintained a price target of $160, citing the durability of demand for AI computing. Citi reiterated the stock’s “High Risk” tag, however, due to the company’s high customer concentration and limited trading history since its initial public offering in March.

CoreWeave shares were climbing 11% to $113.83 after the opening bell Thursday. The company’s IPO had priced shares at $40.

“While we are not making changes to our estimates/target price, we expect accelerating growth in 2026 and we are already 4-6% above the Street on fiscal 2026-2027 revenue [estimates] and our $160 target price implies +56% upside,” Radke said.

Microsoft’s stellar earnings print on Wednesday played a key role in the upgrade. Strength in Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing platform, plus large cloud announcements at Oracle , has made Citi “incrementally more confident about the durability of AI demand and CRWV’s position in the market,” Radke wrote.

Around 72% of CoreWeave’s revenue in the first quarter came from Microsoft, which does present some longer-term concerns for the business, Radke said. But with CoreWeave shares now down roughly 45% from their peak and AI demand only looking stronger, Citi believes it’s time to buy.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com