Cerebras Q3 core revenue rises 70% to $230.9 million; shares jump 17% after hours on Microsoft deal

Cerebras Systems reported faster growth than Wall Street expected in its third quarter and raised its outlook, sending the stock up 17% in extended trading on Thursday, CNBC reported. The AI chipmaker, which listed on Nasdaq in May, also said it had signed a deal with Microsoft.

The numbers

In its earnings release, Cerebras reported GAAP revenue of $210.8 million, up 55% from a year earlier. Core revenue, the company's own adjusted measure, was $230.9 million, up 70% from $135.7 million. Within that, core cloud revenue rose 272% to $144.9 million.

On a GAAP basis the company lost $161.2 million. On its core measure it reported net income of $29.8 million. Core figures are company-defined and are not the same as GAAP results; the release reconciles the two.

Guidance and backlog

For the fourth quarter, Cerebras guided core revenue of $310 million to $330 million with a core gross margin of 47% to 49%. CNBC said analysts polled by LSEG had expected $271 million and a 42.1% margin. For the full year the company now expects core revenue of $940 million to $960 million, and it said it expects revenue to triple in 2027.

The company said it has contracted 700 megawatts of data centre capacity and reported remaining performance obligations of $26.1 billion, with $7.8 billion in liquidity. It also plans to be available through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in 2027. Yahoo Finance reported that the company announced deals with two new hyperscalers, one of them among the world's top three, and that the shares were up 13% in premarket trading on Friday.

The Microsoft deal

Chief executive Andrew Feldman told CNBC that Microsoft signed in October and that "we believe revenue begins to show up in Q1 '27." He said Cerebras is evaluating financing options to meet demand. CNBC noted the shares had fallen about 47% since the May listing before Thursday's move.

Analysis

The quarter shows Cerebras shifting towards cloud services, which now make up most of core revenue. The large backlog and capacity commitments point to growth, but they also explain the financing talk: building out 700 megawatts takes capital before the revenue arrives. The gap between GAAP losses and core profit is worth watching in future quarters. This article is news, not investment advice.