Cerebras Systems (Nasdaq: CBRS) reported record third-quarter revenue on Thursday, November 12, 2026, raised its full-year outlook and said it has signed a cloud deal with Microsoft. The stock closed the regular session at $97.75, down 3.3%, then jumped about 16% to around $113 in after-hours trading, and was at $115.20 (+17.9%) by 6:33 p.m. ET.[11][1][2][8] Revenue rose 55% to $210.8 million on the standard GAAP basis and 70% to $230.9 million on the company's own "core" measure, and Cerebras guided fourth-quarter core revenue of $310 million to $330 million, far above the roughly $271 million analysts expected.[1][3]
 | |
| Company | Cerebras Systems (Nasdaq: CBRS), Sunnyvale, California[2][7] |
|---|---|
| Reported | Thursday, November 12, 2026, after the close[1][3] |
| Quarter | Q3 2026, ended September 30, 2026[2] |
| GAAP revenue | $210.8 million, up 55% (FactSet forecast $214.7m)[3][4][5] |
| Core revenue | $230.9 million, up 70% (LSEG forecast $214.7m)[1][3] |
| Net loss | $161.2 million, or 67 cents a share[1][3] |
| Q4 guide | Core revenue $310m to $330m (forecast about $271m)[1][3] |
| Backlog | $26.1 billion of remaining performance obligations[2][3] |
| Close, Nov 12 | $97.75 (-3.29%); $115.20 after hours at 6:33 p.m. ET[8][11] |
| Top customers (Q3) | MBZUAI 38%, OpenAI 34% of revenue[9][10] |
| IPO | May 14, 2026 at $185 a share[4][7] |
| CEO | Andrew Feldman (co-founder)[1][4] |
What Cerebras reported
This was Cerebras's second quarterly report since it listed on Nasdaq in May. Revenue for the three months to September 30 was $210.8 million, up from $135.7 million a year earlier. The net loss widened to $161.2 million from $22.2 million, as the company spends heavily on data centre capacity.[2][3]
Cerebras also reports a "core" set of numbers that strip out certain items. Core revenue was a record $230.9 million, up 70%, and core net income was about $30 million, even though the GAAP result was a loss.[1][2][3] GAAP gross margin was 20% and core gross margin 41%.[3] Investors tend to look at both, and the gap between them is one reason the stock swings so much.[2]
The company's mix has flipped. Cloud and other services revenue, where customers rent Cerebras computing power instead of buying the machines, rose 265% to $141.9 million, about two thirds of GAAP revenue. Hardware sales fell to about $69 million from about $97 million a year earlier.[2][3][4]
Did Cerebras beat earnings?
It depends on which revenue line you use. MarketScreener's earnings flash put GAAP revenue of $210.8 million against a FactSet estimate of $214.7 million, a miss of about $3.9 million, or 1.8%. Crypto Briefing also said the GAAP figure "came in below estimates".[4][5]
CNBC compared core revenue with the LSEG consensus instead: $230.9 million against $214.7 million expected, a beat of about $16 million, or 7.5%. It called the results "better-than-expected revenue and quarterly guidance".[1] The loss per share was 67 cents. CNBC said it was not immediately clear how that compared with the 14-cent loss in its consensus, and FactSet's estimate was a 66-cent loss, so on that measure the result was roughly in line.[1][5]
What moved the shares was the outlook, not the quarter. The fourth-quarter guide beat forecasts by a wide margin, and the Microsoft news was new.
The Microsoft deal
Cerebras's release said it had signed new commercial agreements with two hyperscalers, the largest cloud companies, including an unnamed top-three cloud provider.[3] Chief executive Andrew Feldman told CNBC that executives would announce a new relationship with Microsoft on the analyst call, that Microsoft signed the deal in October, and that "We believe revenue begins to show up in Q1 '27".[1]
Cerebras already works with Amazon and Oracle, according to CNBC.[1] In late October, Cerebras said its "fast inference" would be offered to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure customers, and the stock rose about 10% that day.[6] The company's release says the Oracle integration is due in 2027.[2][3]
Feldman also pointed to a gap left by Nvidia: "I think there is opportunity created by, particularly on the hardware side, the sale of hardware, where long lead times in GPUs and more expense creates opportunity for us," he told CNBC.[1] The results landed on the same day that Nvidia's Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive.[1]
What the filing says about the Microsoft deal
Cerebras filed its quarterly report (10-Q) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on November 12. It says the company signed commercial agreements with Oracle and Microsoft in the second half of 2026, for hardware and for cloud inference services respectively. Both deals "provide preferential commercial terms" to the cloud companies, and the Microsoft agreement "includes certain milestones that must be satisfied before cloud inference services commence".[9] That fits what Feldman told CNBC: the deal was signed in October and he expects revenue from it to start in the first quarter of 2027.[1] The filing does not give a dollar value for the Microsoft contract.[9]
Guidance for Q4 and 2027
For the fourth quarter, Cerebras expects core revenue of $310 million to $330 million, core gross margin of 47% to 49% and an operating margin of about breakeven. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $271 million in revenue and a 42.1% margin.[1][2] The midpoint, $320 million, would be about 39% more than the third quarter's core revenue.
The full-year 2026 core revenue range is now $940 million to $960 million, and the company repeated that it expects revenue to triple in 2027.[2][3] CNBC worked out that tripling implies about $2.85 billion, a little below the $2.92 billion analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for.[1]
The backlog and the risks
Cerebras reported $26.1 billion of remaining performance obligations as of September 30. That is contracted work not yet booked as revenue, and it is more than 27 times the midpoint of this year's revenue guide. It ended the quarter with $7.8 billion in cash, restricted cash and short-term investments, plus $850 million of available debt capacity.[2][3]
Turning that backlog into sales depends on capacity. Cerebras says it has secured 700 megawatts of data centre capacity for delivery by the end of 2027, including new sites in Norway and Finland, and is working with contract manufacturers Flex and Sanmina to raise manufacturing capacity more than tenfold from the start of 2026.[3] Feldman told CNBC the company is weighing financing options to meet demand.[1]
The biggest risk is concentration. The 10-Q shows that two customers brought in about 72% of third-quarter revenue: Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi with 38%, down from 70% a year earlier, and OpenAI with 34%. Abu Dhabi tech group G42, which the filing treats as a related party of MBZUAI, added 7%. Cerebras says it expects OpenAI to make up "a substantial portion" of its revenue over the next several years.[9][10]
Separately, investingLive notes that Cerebras relies on a small number of large customers, including OpenAI, and has to deliver that 700 megawatts on time.[2] Its hardware sales are also shrinking, so the business now rests on the cloud side.
What it means for CBRS stock
Cerebras listed on May 14, 2026, selling shares at $185, above its expected range. The stock opened at $350, peaked at $386 and closed its first day at $311.07, valuing the company at about $95 billion. The offering raised $5.55 billion, or up to $6.38 billion if underwriters took up their extra shares.[4][7]
It has fallen most months since. The shares closed at $109.18 on October 30 and at $97.75 on November 12, about 47% below the IPO price and 69% below the first-day close. The 52-week low is $77.84.[1][8] After the report they traded at $113.43 at 5:29 p.m. ET, up 16.0%, and CNBC reported a jump of as much as 18% in extended trading.[1][8] After-hours volume is thin, so Friday's session is the real test.
Cerebras is not the only AI infrastructure name reporting this week. Nebius shares fell 17% after its results on Thursday, while Cisco beat and raised its outlook on AI networking orders.
What to watch next
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Nov 12, 5 p.m. ET | Earnings call, where the Microsoft relationship was due to be announced[1] |
| Friday, Nov 13 | First full trading session after the report |
| Q1 2027 | First Microsoft revenue expected, per Feldman[1] |
| 2027 | Oracle Cloud integration due; revenue target about triple 2026[1][2] |
| End of 2027 | 700 MW of data centre capacity due for delivery[2][3] |
| Not yet dated | Q4 2026 results (guide $310m to $330m core revenue)[1] |
Frequently asked questions
Why is Cerebras stock up after hours?
Because it raised its full-year outlook, guided fourth-quarter revenue well above forecasts and announced a cloud deal with Microsoft. Shares were up about 16% at $113.43 shortly after 5:29 p.m. ET and at $115.20, up 17.9%, by 6:33 p.m. ET.[1][8][11] After-hours prices can change by the open on Friday, November 13.
Did Cerebras beat or miss Q3 2026 estimates?
Both, depending on the measure. Core revenue of $230.9 million beat LSEG's $214.7 million, while GAAP revenue of $210.8 million was just below FactSet's $214.7 million.[1][5]
What is Cerebras's Q4 2026 guidance?
Core revenue of $310 million to $330 million, a core gross margin of 47% to 49% and roughly breakeven operating margin.[1][2]
What does Cerebras make?
Systems built around a wafer-scale chip, a single processor made from a whole silicon wafer, used mainly for AI inference. It sells the machines and rents their computing power through its own cloud.[2][6]
What was the Cerebras IPO price?
$185 a share. The stock debuted on Nasdaq on May 14, 2026 and closed its first day at $311.07.[4][7]
References
- "Cerebras surges 18% after beating on quarterly revenue and announcing Microsoft deal". CNBC. November 12, 2026. cnbc.com
- "Cerebras raises 2026 outlook, sees revenue tripling in 2027 as $26bn backlog builds". investingLive. November 12, 2026. investinglive.com
- "Cerebras revenue jumps 55% to $211M as AI cloud demand surges". Crypto Briefing. November 12, 2026. cryptobriefing.com
- "Cerebras revenue climbs 55% in Q3 2026 but lands below Wall Street estimates". Crypto Briefing. November 12, 2026. cryptobriefing.com
- "Earnings Flash (CBRS) Cerebras Systems Inc. Reports Q3 Revenue $210.8M, vs. FactSet Est of $214.7M" and "Posts Q3 Loss $0.67 per Share, vs. FactSet Est of $0.66 Loss". MarketScreener. November 12, 2026. marketscreener.com
- "Why Cerebras Systems Stock Jumped on Tuesday". The Motley Fool. October 27, 2026. fool.com
- "Cerebras pops 68% in Nasdaq debut, pushing the AI chipmaker's market cap to $95 billion". CNBC. May 14, 2026. cnbc.com
- CBRS closing and after-hours quotes and daily chart data, checked 22:30 GMT November 12, 2026. CNBC and Yahoo Finance. cnbc.com
- Cerebras Systems Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR). Filed November 12, 2026. sec.gov
- "Cerebras Posts Record Sales and Now Expects More Revenue This Year". Stock Titan. November 12, 2026. stocktitan.net
- CBRS after-hours quote (CNBC extended-hours quote and Yahoo Finance 5-minute chart, including post-market), last trade 6:33 p.m. ET, checked 23:33 GMT November 12, 2026. cnbc.com