CoreWeave (CRWV +5.67%) was one of the hottest tech stock stories in 2025. The stock's price has more than doubled since its initial public offering (IPO) last March.
The company builds data centers specifically for artificial intelligence (AI) and sells the computing power from them to AI companies, such as OpenAI. Experts anticipate that money will continue to flow into AI data centers, with total spending potentially amounting to trillions of dollars by 2030.
But investors hoping to ride the stock to more market-beating returns may want to forget CoreWeave and look elsewhere. It faces some challenges that could impact its stock performance. So, consider these two proven millionaire makers instead.
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Why the wheels could fall off for CoreWeave stock
Growth isn't the concern for CoreWeave, which continues to stockpile Nvidia GPU chips for its cutting-edge AI data centers. CoreWeave's trailing-12-month revenue is currently $4.3 billion. However, Wall Street analysts estimate that it will explode to $12 billion this year and $19.2 billion next year.
The stock sounds like a layup, right? The problem is that CoreWeave needs to purchase a large number of GPU chips and build data centers to support this rapid growth, which is increasing its financial losses. It doesn't have the money for all of this investment, and has burned $8 billion in free cash flow over the past year alone.
NASDAQ: CRWV
Key Data Points
CoreWeave has accumulated more than $18 billion in debt since July 2024, and the share count has increased by more than 7.3% since its IPO. The stock is less likely to perform well for investors if the company continues to spend, borrow, and issue stock without generating meaningful cash flow in the near future.
Investors may want to shift their focus to top AI stocks with strong supporting businesses that already generate substantial profits to fund their AI investments.
Alphabet: This tech giant continues to deliver for shareholders
Take Alphabet (GOOG 0.94%)(GOOGL 1.07%), for example, which has returned over 13,000% since 2004. Today, Alphabet is a financial juggernaut. Its primary businesses, Google, YouTube, and Google Cloud, generate the lion's share of the company's $385 billion in annual revenue and $73 billion in free cash flow. These businesses help fund Alphabet's AI investments.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Key Data Points
Alphabet uses the data from the billions of people using its various products and services to train its AI models. It has also leveraged its users to make its Gemini app a legitimate challenger to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Additionally, AI is driving Google Cloud's growth, as most AI applications currently rely on cloud computing. It's a win-win for Alphabet.
Despite Alphabet's massive $4 trillion market cap, the stock still has plenty of long-term upside. Analysts expect Alphabet to grow its earnings by more than 16% annually over the next three to five years -- and that's before factoring in its new AI partnership with Apple. In all, it's likely sufficient growth to justify purchasing the stock at a forward P/E ratio of 29 today.
Microsoft: An all-time great that has stood the test of time
Perhaps no tech company has sustained success like Microsoft (MSFT 0.61%). The tech titan has returned more than 193,000% since 1987. Microsoft participates in a wide range of markets, from computer software to video games. In total, the company generates over $293 billion in annual revenue and $78 billion in free cash flow. Like Alphabet, its existing businesses fund its AI budget.
NASDAQ: MSFT
Key Data Points
Countless businesses and consumers rely on Microsoft's software products, including Windows, Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), and Dynamics 365. Microsoft's Azure slots in just ahead of Alphabet as the world's second-leading cloud services business. It's an ideal customer base for selling AI products. Microsoft also partners with and owns 27% of ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
Broadly speaking, Microsoft is showing steady growth across the entire company, and analysts are calling for more than 16% annualized earnings growth over the coming years. I wouldn't call Microsoft cheap at a forward P/E of just over 30. But it's arguably a fair price for that growth. This stock won't make you rich overnight, but you can hardly go wrong with a multidecade winner such as this.
