The Rundown
The Rundown

CoreWeave Sinks on Rising AI Costs, Cloudflare Cuts 20% of Workforce

May 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The latest Rundown episode covers a strong April jobs report amid cooling stock indexes, mixed earnings from AI-focused cloud providers CoreWeave and Iron, updates on Rocket Lab, Cloudflare, and Lime's IPO plans, plus unintended consequences of the AI boom on gaming hardware costs.

Labor Market Holds Firm Amid Macro Caution

Stocks dipped Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 0.4%, Nasdaq off 0.1%, and Dow losing 0.6%. The Dow's underperformance this year stems from its 30-stock composition lacking exposure to leading AI and chip sectors, leaving its investors trailing broader indexes.

April's jobs report exceeded expectations, adding 115,000 jobs versus the forecasted 55,000, with unemployment steady at 4.3%. This resilience counters concerns over AI job displacement and slowdown risks, potentially supporting Federal Reserve rate cuts later in 2025. However, markets price only a 12% chance of cuts this year, matched by a 12% hike probability, reflecting worries about elevated oil prices stoking inflation. Upcoming CPI data next week will provide further clarity.

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:00) **Intro and Episode Tease** - Host outlines strong jobs report, earnings recaps, and AI's impact on gaming
  • 2 (00:33) **Market Recap** - Stocks dip; S&P 500 -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.1%, Dow -0.6% due to lack of AI exposure
  • 3 (01:04) **April Jobs Report** - 115k jobs added (double expectations), unemployment steady at 4.3%
  • 4 (02:07) **CoreWeave Earnings** - Revenue doubles to $2B (beat), but $700M loss, weak Q2 guide, CapEx to $31-35B
  • 5 (03:33) **Iron Earnings and Nvidia Deal** - Revenue $145M (miss), $248M loss, but Nvidia partnership for 5GW AI infra
  • 6 (05:01) **AI Cloud Takeaway** - Strong demand (e.g., CoreWeave's $100B backlog) but massive losses and CapEx challenges
  • 7 (05:19) **Lime IPO Plans** - E-bike/scooter firm eyes $250M raise at $2B valuation amid open IPO window

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Market update for Friday May 8, 2026

Check out the Public app for incredible investing tools and to support the show (LINK)

Follow us on Instagram (@TheRundownDaily) for bonus content and instant reactions.

In today’s episode, Zaid covers:

  • The April jobs report: 115,000 jobs added, unemployment steady at 4.3%
  • CoreWeave sinking after earnings as AI infrastructure costs keep climbing
  • IREN jumping on a major Nvidia-backed AI infrastructure deal
  • Lime filing for  IPO at a potential $2 billion valuation
  • Rocket Lab rising after strong revenue, backlog growth, and progress on Neutron
  • Cloudflare cutting 20% of its workforce as it shifts toward agentic AI
  • Nintendo raising Switch 2 prices as AI-driven chip demand makes gaming more expensive
The Rundown

More from this podcast

The Rundown →