CoreWeave Stock Plunges 16% as Bond Yields Near 15% Over AI Debt Fears

CoreWeave shares plunged 16% on Wednesday while yields on its corporate debt surged, driven by growing investor concern that technology companies are borrowing too heavily to finance artificial intelligence infrastructure. The yield to maturity on CoreWeave's 9.75% bond due in 2031 reached around 14.9%, while its 9.625% bond due in 2032 sat at 14.8% after touching 15% on Tuesday. Concerns over AI debt loads hit other infrastructure and cloud players on Wednesday, with Dell dropping 10%, neocloud rival Nebius falling 9%, and Oracle shares tumbling nearly 7% as yields on Oracle's 6.25% bond due in November 2032 reached 7.24%. Hyperscalers are projected to spend $800B this year on AI infrastructure, a figure JPMorgan expects to exceed $1T annually by 2027. "The era of easy money, which we experienced in the first nine months of the year, is starting to disappear and dissipate. Now the extra dollar or the marginal dollar is going to be more looked at with a microscope into the concessions that the issuer is giving you back." — Luis Alvarado, Co-Head of Global Fixed Income Strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.