In its announcement, CoreWeave confirmed it nearly doubled its revenue backlog, which includes “remaining performance obligations” (RPOs) and other amounts it estimates will be recognized as revenue, to $55.6 billion, up from $30 billion the previous quarter. The surging backlog, which represents future revenues from customers, was driven by contracts with Meta, OpenAI, and French AI startup Poolside. Earnings and revenue, meanwhile, both beat analysts’ consensus estimates.

The company also reported an increase in the debt on its balance sheet, however, and it revised its full-year revenue guidance downward. Following its earnings release and call with analysts, the stock dropped 6% in after-hours trading.

Some investors have trained a gimlet eye on CoreWeave as more skeptics kick the tires of the booming AI trade and the concurrent infrastructure buildout. Concerns about CoreWeave, which some see as a potential canary-like indicator of weakness in the AI ramp-up, and about the AI build-out in general have sent the stock on a journey that has seen it tumble more than 30% from mid-August highs.

The downward revision in revenue guidance reflected delays in construction of some of CoreWeave’s data centers. “While we are experiencing relentless demand for our platform, data center developers across the industry are also enduring unprecedented pressure across supply chains,” CEO Michael Intrator said during the analysts’ call. “In our case, we are affected by temporary delays related to a third-party data-center developer who is behind schedule.”

Chief financial officer Nitin Agrawal offered full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $5.05 billion to $5.15 billion, down slightly from the guidance Intrator offered on the second-quarter earnings call, of between $5.15 billion to $5.35 billion. The customer impacted by the delay agreed to adjust the delivery schedule and extend the expiration date, Intrator said, which means CoreWeave will maintain the total value of the original contract.

Agrawal said the company’s 2025 capex spending would be between $12 billion to $14 billion, down significantly from the $20 billion to $23 billion Intrator forecast last quarter. However, Agrawal said CoreWeave expects 2026 capex to soar.

“Given the significant growth in our backlog and continued insatiable demand for our cloud services, we expect capex in 2026 to be well in excess of double that of 2025,” Agrawal said.

Revenue leaps, losses narrow, debt increases

CoreWeave reported revenues of $1.4 billion for the quarter, up from $584 million in the same quarter last year and beat analysts’ estimates. Profitability, at least by traditional GAAP measures, remains elusive. CoreWeave reported a net loss of $110 million, although it was an improvement over its $359.8 million loss in the third quarter last year and also better than analysts expected.

Adjusted net loss, which shows financial performance without extraordinary items, was $41 million for the quarter compared to the same quarter last year when it was break-even, Agrawal said. Adjusted EBITDA, which shows earnings without certain one-time expenses, were $838 million in the third quarter, compared to $379 million in Q3 2024. 

Operating income, a metric that shows profit from core businesses, fell to $51.9 million, compared to the same quarter last year when it was $117.1 million. Operating margins shrunk to 4% from 20%. 

Meanwhile, adjusted operating income, which shows a different view on core business performance, was $217 million for the third quarter, compared to $125 million in the third quarter of 2024, said Agrawal, the CFO. CoreWeave’s third quarter adjusted operating margin was 16%, due to higher revenues, lower costs, and the timing of data center deliveries from third parties.

 While Monday was just this side of positive for CoreWeave, analysts who are bearish on the AI cloud computing company remain leery of its finances. They see the company as at risk of being overwhelmed by the significant financial commitments it has taken on to build out data centers, which currently look disproportionately large compared to its revenues and cash flow. Based on its latest earnings release, CoreWeave has $9.7 billion in bills due within the next 12 months on its balance sheet, and a total of $14 billion in current and longer-term debt. Last quarter, those figures were $7.6 billion and $11 billion, respectively. 

CoreWeave also has $34 billion in scheduled lease payments on contracts that will commence between now and 2028. Interest expense reached $311 million for the quarter, nearly triple the figure from the year-earlier period, of $104 million. 

CoreWeave bulls, meanwhile, remain confident that revenues from the company’s book of contracts will eventually far outstrip its debt obligations. During the past three months, CoreWeave has announced a spate of significant deals, booking a $14.2 billion deal to provide Meta with computing capacity and an agreement with Poolside for a data center with 40,000 of Nvidia’s coveted GPUs.

“To reduce the chances that I’d fail at the critical task of hiring the right people, and increase the chances that I’d succeed at hiring great people, I had been refining my interviewing technique,” Frankfort wrote for Harvard Business Review last month. “I wanted to be more interactive so I might have a complete view of a person.”

Frankfort spent nearly the entirety of his career at Coach, serving as CEO for 29 years out of his 46-year run at the aspirational brand. During those decades he perfected his hiring strategy, and with the best team beside him, scaled the business from reeling in just $6 million in annual revenue to a multibillion-dollar empire. And he’s bringing that playbook to his current role as chief executive of investment firm Benvolio Group, which works with consumer brands like Veronica Beard, Body Armor, and Bogg Bagg. 

If a job candidate hopes to become one of Frankfort’s direct reports, they must go through a thorough and carefully structured process. From start to finish, Frankfort personally meets with each applicant, beginning with an initial interview focused on their background and work experience. The seasoned CEO asks questions ranging from where they grew up to what accomplishments make them most proud. After about 15 to 20 minutes, he transitions into the next stage of the interview.

The next stages of interviewing: a boss EQ rating and 80-skill test

The next stage of Frankfort’s interview process is a bit unorthodox—he instructs job candidates to name a current or recent boss, and rate their emotional intelligence (EQ) on a scale of 1 to 10. He said most would give their managers a 7, 8 or 9, and if they gave a lower number, he’d inquire more. Then, applicants are asked what their bosses would say are their strengths and growth opportunities. 

“Many people don’t have the language or the inclination to describe themselves in full dimension, so this angle would help you express yourself more precisely,” the ex-Coach CEO continued. “It would also force a level of honesty, especially if you knew that your boss was a reference I might talk with.”

The third part of the interview stage is a white paper self-assessment covering more than 80 unique skills. They’re capabilities, Frankfort said, he’s amassed over his lengthy career, including the ability to judge people, courage, curiosity, financial acumen, investigative skills, sense of style, street smarts, integrity, and self-motivation. Prospective talent will give themselves a ranking from 1 to 10 for each ability, and once the sheet is filled out, the executive will start by asking about the strengths that have come out in conversation.

“Individually and collectively, your rankings would offer insight, telling me where to lean in for more information and clarity,” Frankfort explained. “I was looking for clusters of similarly rated competencies—for outliers that might suggest a concern, and for dichotomies that reveal where I needed to probe to get to a deeper truth.”

If a job candidate rated themselves low on one skill, Frankfort would enquire how that capability can be improved in the job or offset by other staff. But overall, he said he was looking for red flags—any “deal breakers” and “caution areas” that signal they’re not the right fit for the role. The CEO admitted he’s still partial to candidates who are particularly charismatic and confident, but this detailed strategy helps counter his personal bias. The three-step interview process is also an opportunity for Frankfort to assess a potential hire’s self-awareness and growth potential.

“My immersive interviewing framework routineized my natural curiosity about people and helped me avoid the trap of making assumptions about skills and overlooking major weaknesses,” he said.

Other CEOs who swear by personality tests in hiring

Personality assessments in particular have become a staple for business leaders hiring new roles. About 80% of Fortune 500 companies use these quizzes to vet incoming upper-level talent, according to a 2022 study from Ladders. 

Julia Hartz, the CEO of $225 million ticketing company Eventbrite, uses the Hogan method to assess how her leadership style pairs with her direct reports and job candidates. 

The Hogan Personality Test is a suite of workplace-focused assessments used to predict job fit, leadership potential, and business risks under stress. It typically includes three core measures: the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) for the “bright side” of everyday behavior, the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) for “dark side” derailers that can arise under pressure, and the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) for core drivers and cultural fit.

“The Hogan series is pretty in depth, and is about how you react to certain landscapes shifting,” Hartz told Fortune earlier this year. “And then I’m actually able to draw a through line between my Hogan test to a candidate’s Hogan, and using AI can assess the places where it’s going to cause friction, and where are we not going to show up great together?”

And Loren Castle, CEO of refrigerated cookie dough empire Sweet Loren’s, sorted out the good apples from the bunch by deploying the CliftonStrengths quiz. The assessment is a 30-minute test made by American analytics company Gallup that analyzes unique skills, thinking patterns, feelings, and behaviors. And she looked for a few core traits: positive attitude, passion, and teamwork skills.

“It’s hard to hire the right team. That’s the hardest part of this: to really understand what your culture is and attract the best people,” Castle told Fortune earlier this year. “We’re really mindful now when we’re building out teams.”

Day four of the flight restrictions saw airlines scrap over 2,100 flights Monday after cancelling 5,500 from Friday to Sunday. Some air traffic controllers — unpaid for more than a month — have stopped showing up, citing the added stress and need to take second jobs.

President Donald Trump pressured controllers Monday on social media to “get back to work, NOW!!!” He said he wants a $10,000 bonus for controllers who’ve stayed on the job and to dock the pay of those who didn’t.

The head of the controllers union said they’re being used as a “political pawn” in the fight over the shutdown.

Controller shortages combined with wintry weather led to four-hour delays at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Monday, with the FAA warning that staffing at more than a dozen towers and control centers could cause disruptions in cities including Philadelphia, Nashville and Atlanta.

The Senate on Monday was nearing a vote to end the shutdown although it would still need to clear the House and final passage could still be days away. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain until the FAA sees safety metrics improve.

Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights to comply with the order to drop 4% of flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. That will rise to 6% on Tuesday and 10% by week’s end, the FAA says.

Already, travelers are growing angry.

“All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and it’s 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” said Todd Walker, whose flight from San Francisco to Washington state was canceled over the weekend, causing him to miss his mom’s 80th birthday party.

One out of every 10 flights nationwide were scratched Sunday — the fourth worst day for cancellations in almost two years, according aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The FAA expanded flight restrictions Monday, barring business jets and many private flights from using a dozen airports already under commercial flight limits.

Airports nationwide have seen intermittent delays since the shutdown began because the FAA slows air traffic when it’s short on controllers to ensure flights remain safe.

The shutdown has made controllers’ demanding jobs even more stressful, leading to fatigue and increased risks, said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

“This is the erosion of the safety margin the flying public never sees, but America relies on every single day,” the union chief said at a news conference Monday.

Some controllers can’t afford child care to be able to come to work while others are moonlighting as delivery drivers or even selling plasma to pay their bills, Daniels said. The number who are retiring or quitting is “growing by the day,” he said.

During the six weekends since the shutdown began, the average number of 30 air traffic control facilities had staffing issues. That’s almost four times the number on weekends this year before the shutdown, according to an Associated Press analysis of operations plans sent through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system.

Tuesday will be the second missed payday for controllers and other FAA employees. It’s unclear how quickly they might be paid once the shutdown ends — it took more than two months to receive full back pay in 2019, Daniels said.

The shutdown and money worries have become regular “dinnertime conversations” for Amy Lark and her husband, both air traffic controllers in the Washington, D.C. area.

“Yesterday, my kids asked me how long we could stay in our house,” Lark said. Still, she said controllers remain “100% committed.”

The government has struggled for years with a shortage of controllers, and Duffy said the shutdown has worsened the problem. Before the shutdown, the transportation secretary had been working to hire more controllers, speed up training and offer retention bonuses.

Duffy warned over the weekend that if the shutdown drags on, air travel may “be reduced to a trickle” by Thanksgiving week.

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Yamat reported from Las Vegas and Funk from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press writers Ken Sweet, Wyatte Grantham-Philips and Michael R. Sisak in New York, Stephen Groves and Kevin Freking in Washington, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.