In mid-October 2026, unsecured bonds of GPU cloud provider CoreWeave fell into distressed territory, trading at 76.5 to 81 cents on the dollar. Yields on notes maturing in 2031 and 2032 reached 15–16%. Simultaneously, credit default swap spreads hit record levels of 1,000–1,200 basis points, suggesting a 60% probability of default within five years.
CoreWeave holds approximately $50 billion in total debt, with $35.6 billion in principal as of mid-2026. The company faces repayment deadlines of $4.4 billion by the end of 2026 and $6.2 billion in 2027. Its balance sheet was largely built through private credit deals, including facilities of $2.3 billion in 2023, $7.5 billion in 2024, and $8.5 billion in March 2026.
Despite reporting a contracted backlog of around $104 billion by the end of the second quarter of 2026, CoreWeave remains unprofitable due to heavy capital expenditure on data centers and chips. The company, which went public in March 2025, has secured backing from firms like Blackstone and Magnetar, while Nvidia has agreed to purchase its unsold capacity through April 2032.
The market volatility has sparked public debate regarding the pricing of AI-related private credit. Carlyle estimates that private credit could fund roughly $1 trillion of the AI compute infrastructure expansion. Investors are currently monitoring whether CoreWeave can refinance its upcoming debt obligations without facing punitive terms.
