Many investors could be kicking themselves right now for not buying shares of CoreWeave (CRWV -7.13%) earlier. The stock has skyrocketed more than 240% since its initial public offering (IPO) on March 28, 2025.
The good news, though, is that a potential catalyst is right around the corner for this AI hyperscaler. Should you buy CoreWeave stock before Nov. 12?
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What's special about Nov. 12?
What makes Nov. 12 a special date for CoreWeave? Perhaps nothing. However, it's as good a pick as any date for when the company will announce its financial results for the third quarter of 2025.
CoreWeave reported its Q2 results after the market close on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, with its earnings call held shortly afterward. Nov. 12 will be exactly three months after that date. The company hasn't announced yet when its Q3 update will be, but it would make sense for the timing to be on or around Nov. 12.
We'll probably find out for sure exactly when CoreWeave's Q3 results will be released in a few days. The company typically announces the date of its quarterly financial results updates roughly three weeks in advance.
Why CoreWeave stock might soar after Nov. 12
Quarterly results announcements often provide catalysts for stocks for one simple reason: They can reveal surprises. Sometimes, those surprises are positive and cause the stock to soar. Other times, the surprises are negative and cause the stock to sink. Why might CoreWeave have a positive surprise on or around Nov. 12?
First, the company could blow past Wall Street's expectations. CoreWeave's guidance for Q3 is for revenue between $1.26 billion and $1.3 billion. The average estimate among analysts surveyed by S&P Global (SPGI 0.89%) who cover the stock in October was roughly $1.28 billion.
CoreWeave remains unprofitable and didn't provide earnings guidance for Q3. However, Wall Street looks for the company to post a net loss of around $0.50 per share.
Should CoreWeave's actual top or bottom line numbers be significantly better than estimates, its stock could take off. But the company could merely meet expectations with its shares still surging after the Q3 update if it gives investors reason to be more bullish about the future.
Such a scenario is quite plausible. CoreWeave CFO Nitin Agrawal said in the Q2 earnings call that the company's revenue backlog totaled $30.1 billion, an 86% year-over-year increase. That number, though, didn't include a major contract that was signed in Q3 and that will be reflected in the Q3 revenue backlog number.
Importantly, the demand for CoreWeave's GPUs continues to be greater than supply. And customer demand has been accelerating. If the acceleration is greater than anticipated, this AI stock could add to its already impressive gains after the Q3 update.
One especially notable risk
Obviously, if CoreWeave reports disappointing Q3 results, its stock is more likely to fall than jump. That's exactly what happened with the AI hyperscaler's Q2 update on Aug. 12, 2025.
However, there's another risk that investors should note. CoreWeave may beat Wall Street Q3 estimates, but its share price declines anyway. Why might this happen? For one thing, the company's growth could already be baked into its share price.
We can't use earnings-based valuation metrics with CoreWeave since it's still not profitable. But the stock's price-to-sales ratio is over 19x. That's a high multiple, which means significant growth expectations are already priced into the stock.
There's also another phenomenon called a "whisper number." The idea with this is that rumored estimates about a company's revenue or earnings differ from official analyst estimates. These whisper numbers are usually higher than the consensus figures you can find online. A company can beat the official estimates, but its stock may still fall if the actual results are lower than the whisper number.
Because of the uncertainties, it's often not a wise move to rush to buy a stock before its next quarterly results are announced to profit from a short-term spike. However, if you like CoreWeave's long-term prospects, buying it before Nov. 12 or waiting until after the Q3 update should be fine.
