CoreWeave rises; UBS initiates with 'buy'

** Shares of neocloud firm CoreWeave, CRWV.O, rose 1.3% to $81.91.

** UBS initiated coverage with a buy rating and set a price target of $120, implying a 38.3% upside to the stock's last close.

** The brokerage said the Street may be under-appreciating the strength and durability of AI compute demand, GPU pricing trends, and that the company has established a reputation for reliability and performance.

** UBS flagged primary risks as CoreWeave's high leverage, high customer concentration, the competitive market for AI compute hosting and bottlenecks to new data center builds.

** The average rating of 41 analysts is buy; their median price target is $150, according to data compiled by LSEG.

** Up to the last close, the stock had risen 21.2% year to date.