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What Should Investors Do With Nebius Stock Ahead of Q1 Earnings?

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Key Takeaways

  • Nebius reports Q1 2026 results on May 13, with revenue estimates pegged at $316.9 million.
  • NBIS is expanding AI cloud capacity globally amid strong GPU demand and long-term contracts.
  • NBIS plans up to $20B in 2026 AI infrastructure spending as valuation and risks remain elevated.

Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS - Free Report) will report first-quarter 2026 results on May 13, before market open.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for loss for the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at 81 cents. Analysts have not revised their earnings estimates for NBIS’ bottom line over the past 30 days. The consensus estimate for total revenues is pinned at $316.9 million.

Based in Amsterdam, Nebius is positioning itself as a specialized artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure company. Its core operation is Nebius, which is an AI-powered cloud platform designed for intensive AI and machine learning (ML) workloads in both owned and colocation data center capacity. Nebius remains focused on building and scaling its core AI cloud business.

Recently, Nebius inked an agreement to acquire Eigen AI for approximately $643 million, split between cash and stock. Eigen AI specializes in AI inference optimization, a process that efficiently runs trained AI models in production. By integrating Eigen AI’s optimization stack into its Token Factory platform, NBIS aims to create a vertically integrated AI inference ecosystem that combines massive compute infrastructure, advanced model optimization and enterprise-ready deployment pipelines.

What Our Model Predicts for NBIS

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for NBIS this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. That is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

NBIS has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Factors to Focus on Ahead of NBIS’ Q1 Earnings

Nebius is gaining from strong demand for AI infrastructure and a supply-constrained GPU market, which is driving high utilization, strong pricing and long-term customer commitments. The company continues to aggressively expand its global data-center footprint, with new facilities in Israel, the U.K., Finland, New Jersey and other locations across the United States and Europe. Much of the upcoming capacity has already been pre-sold. Management highlighted on the last earnings call that the company remained sold out through the first quarter of 2026.

NBIS also secured a $2 billion investment from NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) in March 2026. This strengthens collaboration across the AI technology stack, supporting Nebius’ full-stack AI cloud platform for AI-native companies and enterprises, while helping the company scale toward its goal of deploying more than 5 gigawatts of AI computing capacity by 2030 with access to next-generation GPUs. The partnership also includes deploying multiple generations of NVIDIA hardware across Nebius’s platform, including early adoption of advanced computing architectures, such as NVDA’s Rubin platform, Vera CPUs and BlueField storage and networking systems.

Nebius Group N.V. Price and EPS Surprise

Nebius Group N.V. Price and EPS Surprise

Nebius Group N.V. price-eps-surprise | Nebius Group N.V. Quote

Growth is further supported by platform expansion through product innovation and acquisitions, including the launch of Token Factory and Aether, and the acquisition of Tavily, driving strong developer engagement with 100% software attach rates for AI cloud customers. In March 2026, the company announced the launch of Nebius AI Cloud 3.5, the latest upgrade to its Aether platform, introducing a suite of enhancements aimed at simplifying and accelerating AI development and deployment.

Large multi-year agreements with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and Meta are expected to contribute meaningfully to revenue growth through 2026 as deployment ramps. In addition, Nebius raised its contracted power target to more than 3 gigawatts for 2026 and expects 800 megawatts to 1 gigawatt of connected capacity by year-end, supporting its long-term AI cloud expansion strategy. This might have also positively impacted the company’s first-quarter performance.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

However, Nebius is facing macroeconomic uncertainty, rising costs and heavy capital spending requirements as it plans to invest $16-$20 billion in AI infrastructure expansion in 2026. The company also expects EBIT to remain negative in 2026 due to continued investments in capacity, GPUs and R&D, while rapid global data-center expansion increases execution and financial risks. This might have negatively impacted the company’s first-quarter performance. Stiff competition from other companies, such as CoreWeave, Inc. (CRWV - Free Report) , remains a concern.

NBIS Stock Performance

Nebius shares have surged 431% over the past year, outperforming the  Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the Zacks Internet Software Services industry’s growth of 54.9% and 20.9%, respectively. The S&P 500 Composite has returned 33.4% over the same time frame.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Shares of the company’s peers like NVIDIA and Coreweave have surged 75% and 95.2%, respectively, whereas Microsoft declined 6.9% in the same period.

NBIS' Stretched Valuation

NBIS stock is not so cheap, as its Value Style Score of F suggests a stretched valuation at this moment.

In terms of Price/Book, NBIS shares are trading at 9.75X, higher than the Internet Software Services industry’s 3.9X, indicating more risk than opportunity.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In comparison, NVDA, MSFT and CRWV trade at multiples of 33.25X, 7.44X and 15.16X, respectively.

What to Do With NBIS Stock Before Q1 Earnings?

Nebius’ strong demand for AI cloud services and rapid data-center expansion support its long-term growth outlook. Elevated valuation levels and significant capital expenditure commitments remain key concerns.

Overall, maintaining a hold position appears to be the most balanced stance right now, while prospective investors could wait for a more attractive entry point.

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