Cerebras guides $855M-$865M FY2026 revenue on OpenAI, AWS scale

Cerebras Systems (CBRS) projected fiscal 2026 core revenue of $855 million to $865 million on its first-quarter earnings call Tuesday, after reporting a 92% year-over-year revenue jump. The company said the guidance reflects expanding deployments with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services, two of its largest compute partners.

First-quarter revenue topped analysts' expectations, Cerebras said, driven by sales of its Wafer-Scale Engine chips and associated systems to cloud-scale customers. The company did not disclose a dollar figure for the quarter but highlighted the revenue growth as evidence of accelerating adoption.

Cerebras said it signed a deal with OpenAI worth more than $20 billion in compute services over the life of the contract. The agreement covers access to Cerebras hardware for training and inference workloads, the company said. AWS deployments, meanwhile, are scaling as Cerebras systems become available through the cloud provider's marketplace and direct enterprise channels.

The fiscal 2026 core revenue range of $855 million to $865 million implies roughly 60% growth from the current fiscal year's expected total. Cerebras said the midpoint reflects conservative assumptions on delivery timelines, not demand weakness. The company added that its backlog extends well into the second half of fiscal 2026.

Cerebras competes with Nvidia and AMD in the AI chip market, a space that has drawn intense investor interest as hyperscalers build out compute capacity. The OpenAI deal gives Cerebras a high-profile anchor tenant, while the AWS partnership provides distribution scale that smaller chipmakers often lack.

The company's stock has gained since the call, trading up 12% Wednesday morning. Analysts at multiple firms raised price targets, citing the revenue visibility from the OpenAI and AWS contracts.

Cerebras expects to continue investing in its next-generation wafer-scale architecture, funded by operating cash flow and a recent debt facility. The company said it does not plan to seek additional equity capital in the near term.

Chief Executive Andrew Feldman told analysts the company is on track to ship its next-generation CS-3 system in the second half of fiscal 2026. That product is designed to handle larger AI models than the current CS-2, positioning Cerebras for the next wave of generative AI workloads.

The broader AI chip sector has seen a flurry of activity. SK Hynix, a memory supplier to the AI industry, is seeking a $29 billion Nasdaq listing to fund expansion. Cerebras' guidance comes as investors look for signs that non-Nvidia chipmakers can carve out sustainable market share.

Cerebras reports its next quarterly results in late July.