CoreWeave had a lackluster debut in the stock market, which left investors feeling unenthusiastic. The company's initial public offering (IPO) raised $1.5 billion, giving it a valuation of $23 billion. Concerns arose due to CoreWeave's heavy dependency on Microsoft and the stock sales by its founders.

On its first day of trading, CoreWeave's stock opened at $39 per share, dropping by 6% initially before recovering to a 4% increase, closing at $41.59. The IPO was closely watched as an indication of the overall performance of the AI sector, which has faced challenges since the success of DeepSeek in January and the dampened enthusiasm for major tech companies due to growth obstacles.

Despite the modest gains on its debut, CoreWeave's trading day saw its shares rise amid a broader market downturn driven by concerns about inflation and tariffs, reflected in the Nasdaq Composite's nearly 2.6% decline. This lukewarm response had little positive impact on other AI firms, as chip makers and hyperscalers experienced significant drops in their stock prices later in the day.

CoreWeave had to reduce its IPO size due to the ongoing market sell-off. The company sold 37.5 million shares, raising $1.5 billion with a $23 billion valuation, making it the largest tech IPO since 2021. Initially, CoreWeave aimed to sell close to 50 million shares within a price range of $47-$55 per share, but adjustments were made in response to market conditions.

CoreWeave's business model involves constructing data centers equipped with Nvidia's GPUs, leased to cloud hyperscalers and AI firms such as Microsoft and OpenAI. Despite its revenue prospects, concerns have been raised about the company's heavy reliance on Microsoft, as well as the stock sales made by its founders.