Nebius Group (NBIS) just dropped its first-quarter 2026 results, and they are the kind of numbers that make Wall Street sit up and pay attention. The company reported explosive growth in its AI cloud business, surging customer demand, and an aggressive expansion of its global data center footprint. Shares surged over 18% in premarket trading Wednesday, hitting a new 52-week high. With short interest exceeding 20% of the float, that rally likely got an extra boost from short sellers scrambling to cover.
The Amsterdam-based company reported an adjusted loss per share of 33 cents for the quarter ended March 31. That might not be directly comparable to analyst estimates for a 77-cent loss, but the top-line numbers tell a much more exciting story. Revenue jumped 684% year over year to $399 million, up from $50.9 million a year earlier.
Almost all of that revenue came from the AI cloud business, which generated $389.7 million in quarterly revenue—up 841% from the prior year and representing about 98% of total group revenue. The annualized run-rate revenue climbed to $1.92 billion at the end of March, up 674% year over year. That's the kind of growth that makes you wonder if there's a typo, but there isn't.
Profitability is also improving. The company posted adjusted EBITDA of $129.5 million, compared with a loss of $53.7 million a year earlier. Net income from continuing operations totaled $621.2 million, helped in part by a $780.6 million non-cash gain tied to the revaluation of its equity stake in ClickHouse. Founder and CEO Arkady Volozh summed it up simply: demand for AI infrastructure continues to outpace industry capacity as enterprises increasingly move AI applications into production environments.
One of the biggest headlines from the report is a second long-term agreement with Meta Platforms (META) valued at up to $27 billion over five years. That's a massive vote of confidence from one of the world's largest tech companies. Nebius also said its pipeline generation increased about 3.5 times quarter over quarter in the first quarter, suggesting more big deals could be on the way.
On the infrastructure side, Nebius is building out aggressively. The company announced a new Pennsylvania AI factory site with up to 1.2 GW of secured power. Contracted capacity now exceeds 3.5 GW, surpassing its prior 3 GW year-end target, prompting management to raise guidance to more than 4 GW of contracted power by the end of 2026. Nebius still expects 800 megawatts to 1 gigawatt of connected power by year-end and anticipates a significant increase in deployed capacity during the third quarter. Additional contracts signed beyond the new 4 GW target are expected to contribute to growth in 2027 and beyond.
Financially, Nebius is well-positioned. The company ended the quarter with $9.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents after raising $6.3 billion during the quarter, including a $2 billion investment from NVIDIA (NVDA) and $4.3 billion from convertible securities. Capital expenditures totaled about $2.5 billion during the quarter, primarily tied to GPUs and AI infrastructure expansion. That's a lot of spending, but with that cash pile, they can afford it.
Looking ahead, Nebius reiterated its expectation to generate between $3 billion and $3.4 billion in 2026 revenue and forecast annualized run-rate revenue of $7 billion to $9 billion. If they hit those numbers, the stock's current run might just be the beginning.
Nebius Group shares were up 18.64% at $212.50 during premarket trading on Wednesday, hitting a new 52-week high. With the AI boom showing no signs of slowing, Nebius is positioning itself as a key player in the infrastructure that powers it all.
