Cerebras posts $210.8 million in Q3 revenue, lifts 2026 core outlook

Cerebras Systems reported $210.809 million in third-quarter GAAP revenue, up 55% from a year earlier, and lifted its separate non-GAAP core revenue outlook for 2026.

The AI chipmaker expects full-year core revenue of $940 million to $960 million, up from the $880 million to $890 million range it issued in August. For the fourth quarter, Cerebras projected core revenue of about $310 million to $330 million, a core gross margin of 47% to 49% and a core operating margin ranging from negative 1% to positive 1%.

The forecasts are not GAAP guidance. The company said it could not reconcile certain forward-looking non-GAAP measures because components needed for the reconciliation are not reliably predictable without unreasonable effort and could materially affect future GAAP results.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, GAAP cloud and other services revenue rose 265% to $141.928 million, while hardware revenue fell 29% to $68.881 million. The company reported $42.094 million in GAAP gross profit, a 20% gross margin, a $224.149 million operating loss and a $161.218 million net loss.

On its non-GAAP measure, Cerebras calculated third-quarter core revenue of $230.873 million by excluding $16.360 million of pass-through revenue and adding back $36.424 million of customer-warrant amortization recorded as a reduction in revenue. Its core cloud and other services revenue rose 272% to $144.914 million.

Cloud expansion was tied substantially to OpenAI. In its quarterly filing, Cerebras attributed the $103 million year-over-year increase in GAAP cloud and other services revenue mainly to $122.3 million of higher revenue from its OpenAI arrangement, new inference agreements and services on deployed clusters, partly offset by $19.3 million of customer-warrant amortization.

Cerebras recognized $72.4 million in quarterly revenue under the OpenAI arrangement, net of $3.2 million in warrant amortization. OpenAI is contractually committed to purchase 750 megawatts of AI inference compute capacity under a multiyear agreement, according to the filing.

Cerebras reported $26.1 billion in remaining performance obligations as of Sept. 30, with a significant amount tied to that agreement. Remaining performance obligations are contracted revenue that has not yet been recognized.

The contract is part of a wider buildout of AI infrastructure, including OpenAI’s plans for future compute campuses. Cerebras separately said it had secured 700 gross megawatts of data-center capacity for delivery by the end of 2027, up from more than 600 megawatts disclosed in August.

The company materials do not reconcile the 700-megawatt capacity figure with the 750-megawatt OpenAI commitment, so the two measures are not interchangeable. Cerebras also did not say how much of the 700 megawatts was already operating rather than contracted for future delivery.

That expansion carries substantial upfront costs. Cerebras paid $1 billion for property and equipment during the first nine months of 2026, compared with $301.1 million a year earlier, mainly for systems and equipment supporting cloud data-center capacity. Data-center leases signed after quarter-end added about $217.8 million in undiscounted future minimum payments.

OpenAI funded an approximately $1 billion restricted working-capital loan for the buildout. The filing showed $829.082 million of principal outstanding at Sept. 30 after $175.489 million in non-cash offsets.

The filing said Cerebras had delivered less capacity to OpenAI than the agreement contemplated as of Sept. 30, before adjustments for potentially excused delays, and expected delivery delays could continue through part of 2027. Unexcused shortfalls that remain uncured can produce service credits and eventual tranche termination; without adjustments for excused delays, credits began accruing Oct. 1. Separately, missed service-level commitments or capacity schedules can trigger refunds or damages.