CoreWeave, Peers Fall After Democrats Sweep Midterms; What it Means For Data Centers

CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) and its peers are trading lower Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, with the flip of the Texas governor’s mansion drawing the most concern from investors.

• CoreWeave stock is taking a hit today. What’s weighing on CRWV shares?

Democrat Gina Hinojosa Wins in Texas After Campaigning for a Data Center Moratorium

According to CNBC, AI data center stocks came under pressure after Democrats, seen as proponents of moratoriums on data center buildouts, won big in the midterms and in key technology hubs like Texas. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa won the Texas governor’s race over incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott after campaigning for tougher limits on data center development, including an immediate moratorium in the state. Texas accounts for 27% of planned data center gigawatts, according to Wells Fargo. Democrats also won or retained the governorships in other major data center states, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, which represent 7%, 5% and 5% of planned U.S. data center gigawatts, according to Wells Fargo estimates.

"The midterm elections will slow the pace of data center buildouts across the U.S.," Dan Ives, partner at Yorkville Ives & Co., said in a note Wednesday. He called the Texas race the "biggest worry" of the night for investors in the AI trade.

CoreWeave Falls 7% While Peers and SpaceX Also Decline

CoreWeave fell 7% and IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) fell 6%, CNBC reported. Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) was down 3% and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shed 4.3%, and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was slightly lower. SpaceX Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), which is building multiple gigawatts of data center capacity including projects in Texas, fell 7%. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) mostly bucked the trend and were higher.

The Texas result adds to pressure on the AI trade, after the Nasdaq-100 fell into correction territory at the end of October on concerns that data center spending growth was slowing. Wells Fargo chief equity strategist Ohsung Kwon had warned in a report this week that a Democratic win in Texas could be a "left-tail event" for the AI trade.

CoreWeave Shares Fall

CRWV Price Action: At the time of publication, CoreWeave shares are trading 6.44% lower at $50.28, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Image via Shutterstock

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