Neocloud stocks fall as Microsoft capex miss stokes AI infrastructure worries

Neocloud stocks CoreWeave, Nebius, and IREN fell in premarket trading Thursday after Microsoft's lower-than-expected capital expenditures reignited concerns about AI infrastructure buildout pace and data center capacity delivery. Microsoft reported quarterly capital expenditures and finance leases of $45.2 billion, up about 30% year-over-year but below the analyst consensus of $50.7 billion, citing delayed third-party capacity deliveries. Alphabet also missed expectations with $51.36 billion in third-quarter capex versus $55.09 billion forecast. CoreWeave and Nebius dropped roughly 7%, while IREN fell over 5%. Analysts defended the companies' balance sheets, with Oppenheimer reiterating an Outperform rating on CoreWeave and a Seeking Alpha analyst upgrading Nebius to Buy, citing stronger balance sheets and recovery values despite broader sector concerns about debt financing and potential consolidation.