Cerebras Systems reported its second quarter of 2026 on August 12 with two revenue figures, and the gap between them is the story. Under GAAP, total revenue was $180.1M, up 74% year over year [1]. Under the company's core, non-GAAP definition, total revenue was $209.9M, up 103% [1]. The two numbers describe the same quarter and differ by roughly $30M.
The fastest-growing line is cloud and other services. GAAP cloud and services revenue reached $126.0M, up 281% from a year earlier, while the core figure was $127.7M, up 287% [1]. That is the business the company means when it says the segment nearly quadrupled.
Profit is where the framing has to hold. Cerebras posted a GAAP net loss of $450.5M for the quarter, or $(2.98) per diluted share [1]. Gross margin was 14% on a GAAP basis and 41% on a core basis, which the company describes as an improvement of about 940 basis points from the second quarter of 2025 [1]. The 940-basis-point figure is a year-over-year comparison; it should not be confused with any quarter-over-quarter margin movement.
The company raised its full-year outlook alongside the results. It now guides to core revenue of $880M to $890M, a core gross margin of 41% to 43%, and a core operating margin of negative 19% to negative 17% [1]. The last figure is worth reading plainly: even the raised operating-margin guidance is a loss.
The takeaway is not that one revenue number is the true one. Both are disclosed, they measure different things, and the core adjustments that lift the figures also remove costs that GAAP counts. A quarter that grew 74% by one measure and 103% by another, and lost $450.5M either way, is best read with all three numbers in front of you.
