CoreWeave Disappoints on Opening of Trading

Shares of CoreWeave, the first artificial intelligence start-up to go public, opened their first day of trading on Friday at $39. That was down slightly from the initial public offering price of $40, which CoreWeave set a day earlier after reducing the size and value of its I.P.O.

The company’s share price, trading under the ticker symbol CRWV, signaled concern among Wall Street investors about the economy and CoreWeave’s business model.

The fall came amid a slumping stock market and uncertainty around inflation and President Trump’s tariffs. And the listing’s reduced price — CoreWeave estimated a range of $47 to $55 in earlier filings — already reflected skepticism from investors compared with a month ago. The company’s share price increased about 1 percent in early trading.

CoreWeave, which runs data centers that help power giant A.I. systems, also raised just $1.5 billion in the offering, less than the $4 billion that analysts had anticipated.

In an interview on Friday, Michael Intrator, CoreWeave’s chief executive, said that concerns about the stock market and the A.I. industry had caused the company to reduce its listing, but that the timing of its offering would still benefit the company in the long run.

“This is just a day, and we’ll get through this day, and we’ll keep moving,” Mr. Intrator said. “Getting into the public markets is what matters for us.”