Second Quarter 2026
Filed Aug 12, 2026Cerebras Systems Fast Inference Cloud Business Nearly Quadruples in Second Quarter 2026
Core total revenue grew 103% year-over-year to $209.9 million, core cloud and other services revenue grew 287% year-over-year to $127.7 million, and the company raised its full-year 2026 core non-GAAP outlook for all metrics. Core gross margin was 41% and core operating margin was (16%), each improving from Q2'25.
Key metrics
as reported| Metric | Value | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| GAAP total revenueGAAP | $180.1 million | – | up 74% year-over-year |
| Core total revenuenon-GAAP | $209.9 million | – | up 103% year-over-year |
| GAAP cloud and other services revenueGAAP | $126.0 million | – | up 281% year-over-year |
| Core cloud and other services revenuenon-GAAP | $127.7 million | – | up 287% year-over-year |
| GAAP gross profitGAAP | $ 25,559 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP total cost of revenueGAAP | $ 154,551 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP gross marginGAAP | 14% | – | – |
| Core gross marginnon-GAAP | 41% | – | an improvement of approximately 940 basis points from Q2’25 |
| GAAP research and development expenseGAAP | $ 320,151 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP sales and marketing expenseGAAP | $ 86,969 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP general and administrative expenseGAAP | $ 95,672 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP total operating expensesGAAP | $ 502,792 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP loss from operationsGAAP | $ (477,233) (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP operating marginGAAP | (265%) | – | – |
| Core operating marginnon-GAAP | (16%) | – | an improvement of approximately 2,600 basis points from Q2’25 |
| GAAP other income, netGAAP | $ 26,979 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP income (loss) before income taxesGAAP | $ (450,254) (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP income tax expenseGAAP | $ 274 (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP net income (loss)GAAP | $ (450,528) (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders, basicGAAP | $ (450,528) (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders, dilutedGAAP | $ (450,528) (in thousands) | – | – |
| GAAP net income (loss) per share attributable to common shareholders, basicGAAP | $ (2.98) | – | – |
| GAAP net income (loss) per share attributable to common shareholders, dilutedGAAP | $ (2.98) | – | – |
| GAAP weighted average shares outstanding, basicGAAP | 150,968 | – | – |
| Six months ended June 30, 2026 GAAP total revenueGAAP | $ 373,516 (in thousands) | – | – |
| Six months ended June 30, 2026 GAAP gross profitGAAP | $ 111,735 (in thousands) | – | – |
| Six months ended June 30, 2026 GAAP total operating expensesGAAP | $ 604,005 (in thousands) | – | – |
| Six months ended June 30, 2026 GAAP loss from operationsGAAP | $ (492,270) (in thousands) | – | – |
| Six months ended June 30, 2026 GAAP net income (loss)GAAP | $ (464,534) (in thousands) | – | – |
Segments
| Segment | Revenue | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| HardwareHardware revenue was reported in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. | $ 54,119 (in thousands) | – | – |
| Cloud and other servicesThe company cited demand for fast inference, new cloud capacity agreements, and customers including Cognition and Lovable. | $ 125,991 (in thousands) | – | up 281% year-over-year |
Third Quarter 2026 and Full Year 2026 outlook
- RevenueCore revenue of approximately $214 to $216 million; Core revenue of $880 to $890 million
- Gross marginCore gross margin in the range of 38% - 40%; Core gross margin in the range of 41% - 43%
- NoteCore operating margins in the range of (25%) to (23%)
- NoteCore operating margins in the range of (19%) to (17%)
- NoteCore Non-GAAP Financial Outlook has been raised for all metrics.
What drove it
- Core cloud and other services revenue was $127.7 million, up 287% year-over-year.
- Data center capacity, live and under contract for delivery by the end of 2027, increased to more than 600 MW.
- New factory lines were added at contract manufacturers Flex, Sanmina, and Rocket EMS, with manufacturing capacity expected to increase more than 10x in 2026.
- Cerebras enabled support for OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol at 750 tokens per second.
- The AMD disaggregated inference solution is expected to increase throughput by up to 5x and be in production in Q4 2026.
- The company expects to bring disaggregated inference and the same 5x throughput benefits to Amazon Bedrock in the first quarter of 2027.
Concerns
- GAAP loss from operations was $ (477,233) (in thousands), and GAAP net income (loss) was $ (450,528) (in thousands).
- GAAP gross margin was 14% and GAAP operating margin was (265%).
- Third-quarter core operating margin is guided to a range of (25%) to (23%), compared with (16%) in Q2 2026.
- The company identified dependence on a limited number of significant customers, including OpenAI, Group 42 Holding Ltd, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, and AWS, as a risk.
- The company identified its ability to secure sufficient data center capacity and capital to support cloud-based offerings as a risk.
What to watch
- Execution against more than 600 MW of data center capacity live and under contract for delivery by the end of 2027.
- Delivery of manufacturing capacity expected to increase more than 10x in 2026.
- Production timing for the AMD disaggregated inference solution in Q4 2026.
- Expected availability of Cerebras disaggregated inference on Amazon Bedrock in the first quarter of 2027.
- Conversion of $25.4 billion in remaining performance obligations as of June 30, 2026.
- Progress toward the company's plan to more than triple revenue in 2027.
Balance sheet and cash flow
- Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments of $8.6 billion.
- Debt capacity of $850 million.
- Successfully raised $6.4 billion in gross proceeds through our IPO.
- Closed a revolving credit facility for up to $850 million.
- $25.4 billion in remaining performance obligations as of June 30, 2026.
Analysis
Cerebras reported strong top-line growth led by cloud and other services. GAAP cloud and other services revenue was $126.0 million, up 281% year-over-year, while core cloud and other services revenue was $127.7 million, up 287% year-over-year. GAAP total revenue was $180.1 million, up 74% year-over-year, and core total revenue was $209.9 million, up 103% year-over-year. Hardware revenue in the statements of operations was $ 54,119 (in thousands), compared with $ 70,295 (in thousands) in the prior-year period.
The reported mix and core adjustments produced a substantial difference between GAAP and core profitability measures. GAAP gross margin was 14%, while core gross margin was 41%, an improvement of approximately 940 basis points from Q2’25. GAAP operating margin was (265%), while core operating margin was (16%), an improvement of approximately 2,600 basis points from Q2’25. GAAP research and development expense was $ 320,151 (in thousands), total operating expenses were $ 502,792 (in thousands), and GAAP loss from operations was $ (477,233) (in thousands).
The company is funding a large capacity buildout. It reported $8.6 billion of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments, $6.4 billion in gross IPO proceeds, and a revolving credit facility for up to $850 million. Data center capacity live and under contract for delivery by the end of 2027 exceeded 600 MW, while manufacturing capacity is expected to increase more than 10x in 2026. Remaining performance obligations were $25.4 billion as of June 30, 2026.
Management highlighted partner and customer expansion as demand evidence. The company enabled OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol at 750 tokens per second, expects an AMD disaggregated inference solution with throughput increased by up to 5x to enter production in Q4 2026, and expects comparable throughput benefits through Amazon Bedrock in the first quarter of 2027. It also cited cloud capacity agreements with Cognition and Lovable and applications with Block, Figma, AlphaSense, GSK, and CrowdStrike.
The outlook was raised for all full-year 2026 core non-GAAP metrics. Third-quarter core revenue is guided to approximately $214 to $216 million, core gross margin to 38% - 40%, and core operating margin to (25%) to (23%). Full-year core revenue is guided to $880 to $890 million, core gross margin to 41% - 43%, and core operating margin to (19%) to (17%). The principal figures to monitor are execution on capacity deployment, conversion of remaining performance obligations, and the progression from strong core gross margin to a less negative core operating margin as the company continues investment in data centers and manufacturing.
Management, verbatim
This was an outstanding quarter for Cerebras. Core revenue more than doubled to $210 million, and our cloud business nearly quadrupled year-over-year.
Andrew Feldman, Cerebras co-founder and CEO
Speed changes what AI can do. It makes AI more useful, more productive, and opens entirely new markets. As a result, the demand for fast inference is enormous and Cerebras is scaling to meet it, securing more data center capacity, expanding manufacturing, and growing with customers and partners including OpenAI, AWS, AMD, and CrowdStrike.
Andrew Feldman, Cerebras co-founder and CEO
Our quarterly results exceeded our guidance across all core business metrics. The market has responded strongly to the value of fast inference. We significantly improved core gross and operating margins compared to a year ago.
Bob Komin, Chief Financial Officer of Cerebras
Not in the filing
stated, not guessed- Previous-quarter revenue, segment revenue, margin, operating income, net income, and EPS comparisons were not provided.
- Prior-quarter outlook was not provided; therefore, no metric-by-metric comparison with prior guidance is available.
- Non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP EPS, and non-GAAP operating expenses were not provided.
- Operating cash flow, free cash flow, capital expenditures, and cash flow from investing and financing activities were not provided.
- Share repurchases and dividends were not provided.
- Debt outstanding was not provided; the filing reported debt capacity of $850 million and a revolving credit facility for up to $850 million.
- Guidance for operating expenses and tax rate was not provided.
- Six-month ended June 30, 2026 hardware revenue, cloud and other services revenue, cost of revenue components, other income, income tax expense, net income attributable to common shareholders, EPS, and complete weighted-average share data were not fully captured because the provided filing text ends mid-table.
AlphaAI analysis generated from the company’s SEC earnings filing (Form 8-K Item 2.02, or Form 6-K for a foreign private issuer). Every figure was cross-checked against the filing text; consensus estimates, price targets and share-price reactions are not shown because they are not in the filing. AI-generated research, not investment advice.