Neonate, neoliberalist, and the pervasive “Neocloud”
Here’s mine – “Neoaccounting” – neo adjustments required for positive EBITDA
Practised by neoclouds like Coreweave
In the June 26 quarter, “paleo” accounting said they lost $626m
But Neoaccounting or “Adjusted EBITDA”, says they “made” $1.5bn
an impressive $2.1bn swing with revenue of only $2.6bn ..
Although +59% Adjusted EBITDA margin looks much better than a Net loss margin of -24%
These adjustments included:
“Acquisition related costs” excluded because they are “inconsistent in amount and frequency, and do not correlate to the operation of our business”
So why is stock-based compensation excluded?
– It’s very “consistent” – high and increasing,
– unfortunately “frequent”, and
– “correlated to the operation of their business” …
And is “compute” really so profitable if Depreciation is 54% of revenue?
Anyway, what’s the truth?
A GAAP loss of $626m or adjusted EBITDA of $1.5bn?
Well, Cash from operating activities was $679m, but deduct $6.4bn of capex and “Free cash (out)flow” was ($5.7bn)
But that capex included “capitalised internal-use software”
Meaning a worse GAAP loss if expensed ..
And the balance sheet?
Current assets of $9.5bn with current liabilities of $20.9bn, suggesting a liquidity shortfall of $11.4bn over the next year
Somewhat concerning after raising $10bn last quarter
and only $5.5bn of unrestricted cash left – insufficient to settle their $10bn of accounts payable + accrued liabilities ..
not to mention the $41bn of long-term debt & lease liabilities
Maybe they can borrow more
But the interest expense is already 25% of quarterly revenue
And the coupons were 9.65% ($) and 8.5%(€) when they borrowed 2 months ago,
Those bonds are already below par, yielding 11.6% and 10.2%
So I suspect an equity injection is needed
Except management seemed happy using phrases like: “an exceptional quarter”, “incredible progress”, and “extraordinary execution” so maybe I’m wrong ..
Their presentation said, “We use non-GAAP financial measures to make strategic decisions, establish business plans and forecasts, identify trends affecting our business & evaluate operating performance.”
And then say “we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures … may be helpful to investors…”
No thanks – there’s a reason my handle is #numbersnotnarrative
If Coreweave really is the “Essential cloud for AI”, then I’m concerned
Because all I see are GAAP losses and a very weak balance sheet
Give me “paleo accounting” every day of the week
Disclosure
Ranmore Global Equity Fund has no position in any of the securities mentioned
This is not advice, do your own work
Source: Coreweave