** Shares of artificial intelligence startup CoreWeave CRWV.O bounce back above IPO price in third day of trading on Weds

** CRWV shares rise as much as 10.6% to $41 so far on the session. Stock on Mon hit post-debut low of $36 before ending down 7.3% at $37.08

** Nvidia NVDA.O-backed firm's shares finished flat at $40 in debut on Fri after $1.5 bln IPO was slashed in size and priced well below expectations

** AI poster child Nvidia, which had ~6% pre-IPO stake in CoreWeave, bought $250 mln worth of the offering's shares, Reuters reported

** CoreWeave, which has been unprofitable, posted more than eightfold rev increase in 2024 to $1.9 bln

** Microsoft MSFT.O, a competitor through its Azure unit and a customer, accounted for nearly two-thirds of CoreWeave's rev last year

** CoreWeave's IPO was viewed as a crucial barometer of investor appetite for new listings and sentiment for AI-related stocks after the launch of China's DeepSeek

** The combined disappointing performances of CoreWeave and liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global VG.N, two major IPOs this year, could weigh on the new listings pipeline

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))