AMSTERDAM — Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ: NBIS) stock rocketed higher Wednesday after the AI cloud infrastructure company announced a major $2 billion strategic investment from Nvidia Corp., sending shares up more than 16% in intraday trading and highlighting the intensifying race to build massive data center capacity for artificial intelligence workloads.

Nebius Group N.V.
Nebius Group N.V.

The deal, disclosed March 11, 2026, involves a private placement that will provide Nebius with substantial capital to accelerate its ambitious roadmap of deploying over 5 gigawatts of AI data center power by the end of the decade. Nebius, which provides full-stack AI cloud services including GPU clusters, storage, and developer tools, plans to deploy the funds toward hyperscale facilities in the United States, Europe, and emerging Asia-Pacific markets.

Shares of NBIS opened sharply higher at around $105 and climbed as high as $114.08 during the session before settling with gains in the mid-teens percentage range. The rally pushed the company's market capitalization above $27 billion intraday, reflecting renewed investor enthusiasm for "neocloud" players specializing in AI compute amid explosive demand from hyperscalers, enterprises, and AI model developers.

"This partnership with Nvidia validates Nebius' position as a key player in the global AI infrastructure buildout," said Arkady Volozh, CEO of Nebius Group. "The investment accelerates our ability to deliver the massive scale of GPU-powered capacity that customers need right now."

Nebius emerged as an independent public company following its separation from Yandex N.V. in 2024-2025, after geopolitical tensions prompted the divestiture of non-Russian assets. The rebranded entity has focused exclusively on AI cloud services, leveraging former Yandex engineering talent and infrastructure while expanding aggressively in Western markets. Nasdaq listing under the ticker NBIS began in late 2025, and the stock has been one of the standout performers in the AI sector, with shares tripling in value during 2025 before continuing momentum into 2026.

The Nvidia commitment marks the latest in a string of high-profile developments for Nebius. In recent weeks, the company secured local government approval for a 1.2-gigawatt AI factory campus in Independence, Missouri — its largest planned U.S. facility to date. The project, backed by Chapter 100 industrial incentives, positions Nebius to deliver significant new capacity starting later in 2026. The company also appointed Dan Lawrence as Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Americas to oversee U.S. expansion.

Analysts have grown increasingly bullish on Nebius' growth trajectory. Northland Securities recently raised its price target to $232 from $211, maintaining a Buy rating, while other firms have highlighted prepaid infrastructure deals and multiyear contracts as drivers of visibility. Consensus estimates project revenue to surge more than 500% year-over-year in 2026 to around $3.45 billion or higher, driven by sold-out capacity in key quarters and new client wins.

Major hyperscalers have already committed substantial business. Microsoft signed a multiyear agreement in 2025 valued at up to $17 billion for compute capacity, while Meta Platforms has locked in multiyear deals that underpin revenue ramps through 2026 and beyond. These contracts, combined with organic demand from AI startups and enterprises, have prompted Nebius to repeatedly upwardly revise its power deployment targets — from initial 1-gigawatt guidance to more than 2.5 gigawatts contracted for 2026.

Capital expenditures remain elevated as the company races to install GPU clusters, networking, and cooling infrastructure. Recent quarterly filings showed sharp increases in capex tied to Nvidia processors and data center construction, including a new 240-megawatt facility planned near Lille, France. Despite the spending, management emphasizes that prepaid commitments from customers provide strong cash flow visibility and mitigate execution risks.

The stock's performance has not been without volatility. Shares pulled back in late February 2026 after peer CoreWeave reported mixed quarterly results, dragging down sentiment across the AI infrastructure group including Nebius and Iren. Options activity has swung between bullish and bearish in recent sessions, reflecting debates over valuation — with the forward price-to-sales multiple in the mid-single digits on aggressive growth projections — and potential dilution from capital raises.

Still, the Nvidia deal appears to have shifted momentum decisively. The investment not only brings capital but also deepens technical collaboration, giving Nebius preferred access to next-generation GPUs and AI enterprise software. Nvidia's involvement signals confidence in Nebius' ability to execute at hyperscale, a critical factor in a market where power availability, permitting, and supply chain constraints have slowed many competitors.

Looking ahead, Nebius next reports first-quarter 2026 results in late April, with analysts watching closely for updates on capacity utilization, new customer additions, and progress toward the 1,000-megawatt active power target by late 2026. The company has also expanded into the Asia-Pacific region to capture global demand and continues partnerships such as with Saturn Cloud for MLOps tools supporting Nvidia AI Enterprise.

Investors and market watchers view the Nvidia partnership as a potential game-changer for Nebius, positioning it alongside established players like CoreWeave and emerging challengers in the neocloud space. With AI training and inference demand showing no signs of abating — and projections for multi-gigawatt facilities becoming standard — Nebius appears well-placed to capture a meaningful share of the infrastructure buildout.

The stock's rapid ascent underscores broader market themes: insatiable appetite for AI compute, premium valuations for companies demonstrating execution, and the strategic importance of partnerships with semiconductor leaders like Nvidia. While risks remain — including execution delays, power grid bottlenecks, and competition — Wednesday's surge suggests Wall Street sees more upside ahead for this former Yandex spin-off turned AI pure-play.