Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow recommends taking profit and moving to the sidelines in CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ: CRWV) following its explosive rally over the past few months.
Lenschow downgraded the artificial intelligence startup this morning to “equal weight”, adding he can’t think of a near-term catalyst that could push the CRWV share price up any further in the back half of 2025.
Lenschow currently has a price objective of $100 on CoreWeave stock, which indicates a potential downside of as much as 15% from current levels.
Why did Barclays turn dovish on CoreWeave stock?
CoreWeave has been on an absolute tear since going public in the final week of March.
At the time of writing, the AI company is up some 200% versus its IPO price of just $40.
However, it may be as far as CRWV shares go this year since “we are not really sure that there are fundamental arguments to push this much higher,” Lenschow wrote in his latest report.
Investors should note that Barclays’ dovish note applies to the near-term only.
For the longer term, the investment firm remains positive on CRWV’s potential in the artificial intelligence market.
Nonetheless, the downgrade is significant given it’s the first one for CoreWeave stock since going public on March 28th.
CRWV shares may already be pricing in the good news
Earlier this month, the Nasdaq-listed firm reported strong first-quarter results, including a fivefold year-on-year increase in revenue.
Despite the robust performance, Lenschow remains cautious on CoreWeave (CRWV), citing valuation concerns.
Lenschow noted that much of the positive news may already be reflected in the stock’s current price.
CoreWeave is trading at approximately 41 times its estimated enterprise value to EBIT for calendar year 2026 — a premium even compared to high-growth peers such as Nvidia.
While the company’s longer-term prospects remain compelling due to its alignment with the generative AI theme, Barclays believes the elevated valuation and absence of near-term catalysts warrant a more guarded approach to the stock.
Should you invest in CoreWeave Inc in 2025?
Raimo Lenschow is bullish on CoreWeave stock for the long term, primarily because it “addresses a large TAM across both training and inference workloads.”
Investors should also note that the AI firm’s management recently guided for a little over $1 billion in revenue for its current financial quarter – well ahead of $987 million that experts had forecast.
That said, Barclays, even after the downgrade, is among the more bullish firms on CRWV shares.
The consensus rating on CoreWeave currently sits at “overweight” with the average price target of about $69 only indicating potential for a more than 40% downside from here.
Plus, the AI stock does not currently pay a dividend either.
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