Cerebras Stock Plunges 20% As CEO Blames
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- Cerebras Systems CEO Andrew Feldman told CNBC investors "misunderstood" the company's margin guidance, insisting management is "beating the plan" laid out at its recent IPO.
- Shares slid almost 20% after the chipmaker reported its first quarterly results since going public, even as Mizuho and Wedbush raised their estimates following the earnings call.
- Gross margin in Cerebras's core business (excluding customer warrants and data center pass-through revenues) came in at 47% in Q1 and is forecast at 38%–41% for the full year.
- Feldman disclosed Cerebras will need to rent back some equipment from one of its largest clients, cautioning that "it's not going to be a straight line."
- Lock-up expirations allow about 28 million Class A shares held by directors, officers, and nonemployee shareholders to trade starting the second trading day after Tuesday's earnings — a staggered schedule designed to smooth the typical post-IPO unlock.
- Cerebras sidesteps the high-bandwidth memory and TSMC advanced-process supply constraints hitting rivals like Nvidia, but faces data-center permitting delays and mounting public opposition to expansion.
Why it matters: Investors dumped shares nearly 20% even as Mizuho and Wedbush raised estimates, with the market zeroing in on the lower full-year margin guide (38%–41% vs. 47% in Q1) and the equipment-rent-back disclosure. The staggered lock-up releasing ~28 million shares the day after earnings creates an immediate supply increase for a stock already under pressure.
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