Cerebras stock pops 9% after Sam Altman calls the chipmaker a 'close partner'

• Cerebras stock rose on Monday, rebounding from last week's decline.
• It comes after OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman reassured investors of the partnership between the two companies.
• OpenAI said last week it would power its latest AI models with Nvidia's GPUs rather than Cerebras' chips.

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Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTCerebras Systems Inc. signage during the company's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Thursday, May 14, 2026. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Cerebras stock climbed 9% on Monday, rebounding from last week's decline, after OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman reassured investors that the firm is a "close partner."

The AI hardware firm, which made its debut on the Nasdaq in a monster IPO in May, saw its stock plummet 20% to its lowest price last week after it was revealed that OpenAI would power its "Ultrafast" mode for GPT-6.1 Sol with Nvidia's graphics processing units instead of Cerebras' chips.

"There is some speculation about our partnership with Cerebras," Altman said in a post on X on Friday. "Cerebras is a close partner, and we have a deep engagement pushing on the frontiers of speed."

The company's stock rose almost 3% in extended trading on Friday following Altman's comments.

Cerebras has seen its market cap plunge since its May debut and is now valued at about $43 billion, down from $95 billion.

Cerebras stock chart

Cerebras, a Nvidia competitor, sells large computer chips and AI systems that are designed to run AI models faster than traditional GPUs. It claimed that its flagship product, the Wafer Scale Engine 3, runs faster than Nvidia's GPU.

Cerebras signed a $10 billion deal with OpenAI in January to supply it with 750 megawatts of computing power through 2028.

Citi analysts said that their view of Cerebras' revenue outlook between 2026 and 2028 remains "unchanged."

"We believe frontier-AI labs' latest models would initially roll out on internal chips before running on third-party or Cerebras cloud, so it's too early to read much into it," they said in a note on Friday morning.

"We believe the stock's ability to outperform is increasingly tied to evidence that gross margins are stabilizing. Any further delay in the gross margin trough would likely weigh on sentiment, particularly given Cerebras' premium valuation," they added.

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