07:19 AM EDT, 08/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Cerebras Systems ( CBRS ) shares fell early Thursday after the artificial intelligence chipmaker swung to a second-quarter loss, although core revenue more than doubled year over year and topped market estimates amid cloud growth.

The company posted a net loss of $2.98 per share for the quarter ended June 30, compared with earnings of $1.91 the year before, it said late Wednesday. Five analysts polled by FactSet estimated a loss of $1.62. Total operating expenses rose to $502.8 million from $89.3 million.

The stock dropped 17% in the most recent premarket activity.

In an emailed client note, Wedbush Securities attributed the stock decline to high investor expectations, a sequential decline in hardware sales and "relatively" unchanged fourth-quarter expectations.

"We believe earnings volatility largely misses the forest for the trees as Cerebras's success will be dictated by its ability to gain meaningful share over time (we believe it will) in the extremely large growing market for accelerators," according to the brokerage. Wedbush reiterated its outperform rating on the company's shares.

Cerebras recorded core revenue of $209.9 million, up 103% year over year, topping the Street's view for $190.6 million. Core cloud and other services revenue amounted to $127.7 million, up from $33 million in the prior-year quarter. Hardware revenue advanced to $82.1 million from $70.3 million.

"Our quarterly results exceeded our guidance across all core business metrics," Chief Financial Officer Bob Komin said in a statement. "The market has responded strongly to the value of fast inference."

For 2026, Cerebras now anticipates core revenue to come in between $880 million and $890 million, up from its previous projections of $855 million to $865 million. The Street is looking for $880.6 million.

Core revenue is pegged at $214 million to $216 million for the ongoing three-month period, while the average analyst estimate on FactSet is $214.2 million. Core gross margin is forecast to be in a range of 38% to 40%.

"We expect (the third quarter) to be the low point for core gross margin before improving significantly in (the fourth quarter) as we bring on more data centers," Komin said during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. "Our gross margin will also continue to improve in 2027 and trend towards our target of 60%."

Earlier this month, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results and issued upbeat third-quarter revenue guidance at the midpoint. In July, Intel (INTC) posted second-quarter results ahead of market estimates, driven by a 59% surge in its data center and artificial intelligence unit.

Tech bellwether Nvidia (NVDA) is expected to report its latest financial results later in August, while chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) is scheduled to release its earnings next month.