Famed short-seller Jim Chanos has launched a sharp critique of the economic model at CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV), a high-flying AI computing provider.
In a series of social media posts on Wednesday, Chanos argued that, based on the CEO’s own statements, the company’s massive capital investments fail to generate any meaningful return.
Check out CRWV’s stock price here.
Jim Chanos’ Bear Thesis On CRWV’s Asset Depreciation
The criticism followed an interview on CNBC’s “Mad Money,” where CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator, when asked about the risk of his equipment becoming obsolete, claimed that customers are willing to rent his company’s valuable GPUs for "6 or 7 years."
Chanos, known for his forensic accounting-based shorts, used that timeline to make his case. He pointed to CoreWeave’s second-quarter financials, which showed an average of $19.1 billion in capital employed.
He then calculated that amortizing this capital over the seven-year useful life cited by the CEO results in an annual “economic depreciation” of $2.729 billion.
According to Chanos, this figure eclipses the company’s annualized second-quarter EBITDA of $2.624 billion. The conclusion, in Chanos’s view, is stark. “Using the high end of the CEO’s useful life estimate, yields a 0% ROIC,” or return on invested capital, he stated.
See Also: CoreWeave Turns $50 Million Convertible Notes Into $12.5 Billion AI Jackpot For This Hedge Fund
CRWV CEO Dismisses That It Is A Real Estate Play
Intrator’s interview was intended to bolster confidence following the company’s all-stock deal to acquire infrastructure partner Core Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ:CORZ).
He emphasized CoreWeave's sophisticated software stack and its crucial role in the AI ecosystem, dismissing the notion that the company is simply a real estate play.
When Cramer mentioned that people might just see the company as a REIT or a “dumb facility,” the CEO said, “There’s a little bit of a misunderstanding still within the market in terms of how important the software stack that we have built and augmented [is].”
A Hedge Fund Going Venture
The vocal bear case from Chanos presents a stark contrast to the company's bullish backers. Notably, hedge fund Magnetar Financial turned a relatively small investment in CoreWeave into a multi-billion-dollar windfall, representing one of the biggest wins of the AI boom.
Price Action
Shares of CoreWeave rose 8.65% to end at $139.98 per share on Wednesday, and further rose by 0.71% in after-hours. It has risen 249.95% since its listing in March 2025.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CRWV maintains a stronger price trend in the short, medium, and long terms. Additional performance details are available here.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose on Wednesday. The SPY was up 0.60% at $673.11, while the QQQ advanced 1.15% to $611.44, according to Benzinga Pro data.
The futures of the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 indices were trading higher on Thursday.
Read Next:
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
