AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems’ stock plunges, despite posting solid earnings and guidance
Chipmaker Cerebras Systems Inc. boosted its full-year guidance after beating expectations on earnings and “core” revenue as it published its second-quarter results today, but its stock tumbled more than 17% in extended trading.
The company reported an adjusted loss of 5 cents per share, easily beating Wall Street’s forecast of an adjusted loss of 17 cents per share. Revenue for the period came to $180 million, trailing the Street’s $194 million forecast, but the picture is complicated by the fact that the company uses a non-standard revenue metric to account for a couple of idiosyncrasies.
The first is that it receives some pass-through revenue for which there is no margin, so it subtracts that amount from the total. Second, it issues warrants to two customers, and the amortization of those warrants is subtracted from its revenue under standard accounting practices, so it adds that back to arrive at its core revenue. As such, the company was able to report core revenue of $210 million in the quarter, up 50% from a year earlier and surpassing the Street’s expectation of $201 million. All told, it delivered a net loss in the quarter of $450.5 million, having racked up a profit of $309.5 million in the year-ago period. Most of that loss is tied to stock-compensation costs that totaled $386.6 million.
