IPO Summary: CoreWeave Inc (CRWV) Opens Below Issue, Closes Flat in Debut Session

The CoreWeave (CRWV US) IPO reworked its terms the day before pricing and it was still not enough to get the deal out with a positive opening print.

CoreWeave priced a down-sized transaction of 37.5mm shares at $40.00 ($7 Below the Original $47-$55 range) and opened at $39.00 for a loss of 2.5% at first trade

Concentrated Investor Base

According to our underwriter sources, the deal finished multiple-times oversubscribed with the top three accounts allocated 50% of the deal and the top 15 accounts taking down 90% of the transaction. Furthermore, retail investors outside of the lead book runners (Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs) were shut out of the offering.

This is typically a strong indicator that a solid aftermarket performance is on the way. That turned out to not be the case.

Deal Traded Up After Initial Sell-Off

CoreWeave’s stock hit a first-session low of $37.46 within 30 minutes of the stock opening. Buyers stepped in at those levels and sent the stock above the issue price and ultimately as high as $41.94 for a gain of 4.9% at top-tick. The stock closed its opening session at $40.00 or flat versus its issue price.

IPO Market Remains Fragile with Another Broken Deal

The health of the IPO market is determined by opening print performance of the larger cash raise transactions. There have been three cash-raises in 2025 greater than $1 billion: Venture Global LNG (VG US) , Sailpoint Technologies Holdings (SAIL US) and CoreWeave (CRWV US) . After today’s performance all three have opened flat or below issue.

There continues to be a disconnect between the valuation as they transition from the private to public markets. The underwriters need to do a better job of pricing initial public offerings where there remains aftermarket demand. Until this gap closes, companies that are waiting in the wings to go public will continue to hit the pause button.

While its easy to be negative with the current equity capital markets space, there is a reason for a silver lining. This IPO in particular was a difficult deal to value based upon being a “first mover” in the AI space. On that note, the sentiment on CoreWeave was highly negative in the days leading up to its debut due based upon its outsized spending and speculation on “staying power”.

Looking Ahead in the IPO Space

The deals in the short term future are much more straight forward and include: Klarna Group (KLAR US), Hinge Health (HNGE US) , StubHub Holdings (STUB US) among others. While the performance of CoreWeave is one that did not turn heads, the IPO market is still “open” in the short term.