CoreWeave and Nebius Stocks Sink as AI Debt Spreads Widen, Goldman Sachs Says

TLDR

• CoreWeave and Nebius shares fell about 9% on Friday and are down roughly 15% to 22% over the past week.
• CoreWeave’s unsecured bonds hit a 15% yield, which investors read as a sign of financial strain.
• Goldman Sachs said US high-yield AI debt spreads widened 25 basis points to 360 over Treasurys on Oct. 13 and 14.
• CNN’s Fear & Greed Index dropped from 46 to 28 in one week.
• Cantor Fitzgerald and ARK Invest bought the dip, but analysts say bond yields are the key signal.

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Shares of CoreWeave and Nebius Group fell about 9% on Friday morning. CoreWeave traded near $63.25 and Nebius near $172.32. Neither company released a statement on Oct. 16.

CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV

Both stocks are down about 15% over five days, and some reports put the weekly drop above 22%. Nebius is still up 106% this year, while CoreWeave is down 12%.

The First Trust Cloud Computing ETF fell 4%, and the Invesco QQQ Trust fell 1.35%. That suggests cloud stocks were hit harder than large tech names.

CoreWeave’s Bonds Drive the Selloff

Neoclouds rent out GPU computing power to AI developers. Their stocks are now trading off the credit market. CoreWeave’s unsecured bonds, which have no collateral behind them, hit a 15% yield.

Investor Chamath Palihapitiya shared the figure and said AI spending may be creating a private credit bubble. Elon Musk replied with one word: “Yikes.” Bloomberg reported the bonds fell to levels that signal financial strain.

CoreWeave’s second-quarter report showed a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.94. Quarterly interest expense rose to $640 million from $267 million a year earlier. Bloomberg also reported that the company’s founders sold $3.3 billion of stock.

What Goldman Sachs Said

Goldman Sachs said US dollar high-yield AI debt spreads widened by 25 basis points between Oct. 13 and 14. They reached a new high of 360 basis points over Treasurys. Non-AI debt spreads widened only two basis points.

Strategist Amanda Lynam said AI-related corporate bonds from neoclouds sit at the center of the funding cost debate. She said the widening reflects a reassessment of AI buildout economics, especially for lower-rated borrowers exposed to higher-for-longer rates.

Lynam expects some near-term reversal of the selloff. She also said differences across AI debt issuers will likely stay large.

Backlog, Funding and Market Mood

CoreWeave reported a $104 billion backlog as of June 30. It also added more than $25 billion in new commitments early in the third quarter. The company guided third-quarter interest expense to between $860 million and $940 million.

Nebius funded growth mostly with stock and convertible notes. In the first half of 2026, it raised $4.34 billion from convertibles and $2.85 billion from treasury share sales.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell from 5.31% to 5.08% since Oct. 5. A hot inflation report on Oct. 14 revived bets on Fed rate hikes. Bloomberg reported CoreWeave’s CEO told staff the market was acting irrationally.

Cantor Fitzgerald said nearly all of CoreWeave’s planned 2027 capacity is already sold. ARK Invest bought CoreWeave shares on Oct. 14. Analysts say CoreWeave’s bond yields are the signal to watch, and a drop well below 15% would ease the pressure.