Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS) experienced a sharp rally in after-hours trading on Thursday, climbing 12.9% to $238.98, after Nasdaq confirmed the AI cloud company will join the prestigious Nasdaq-100 Index. The stock had already closed the regular session at $222.24, up 4.98%, and was quoted near $235.05 in pre-market action on Friday, reflecting continued investor enthusiasm.
Nasdaq-100 Addition
Nasdaq announced that Nebius will be added to the Nasdaq-100 Index before the market opens on Monday, June 22, as part of the benchmark's quarterly rebalancing. The index, which tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on Nasdaq, is tied to over 200 investment products with more than $800 billion in assets under management globally. Joining Nebius in the index are Astera Labs, CoreWeave, Rocket Lab, and Teradyne, while Charter Communications, Cognizant, Insmed, Verisk Analytics, and Zscaler will be removed.
AI Infrastructure Expansion
The index inclusion comes on the heels of Nebius's aggressive push into AI infrastructure. Earlier this week, the company announced a £1.7 billion investment in the United Kingdom, planning three new NVIDIA-powered data center projects. These facilities are expected to deliver a combined capacity of 65 megawatts by 2027. Founder and CEO Arkady Volozh emphasized the real demand in the UK market and Nebius's commitment to long-term growth in the region.
In the United States, Nebius has secured up to 1.2 gigawatts of power and land for an AI factory in Pennsylvania, signaling its ambition to scale its cloud and AI services globally.
Financial Performance
Nebius's latest quarterly results underscore why it has become a closely watched AI stock. For the first quarter of 2026, the company reported revenue of $399.0 million, a staggering 684% increase from $50.9 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA swung to a positive $129.5 million, compared to a loss of $53.7 million a year earlier, highlighting a dramatic improvement in profitability.
Funding and Risks
Despite the positive momentum, Nebius faces significant challenges. The company completed a private placement of convertible senior notes in March, raising $4.3375 billion in principal, which will be used for data center construction, AI cloud development, geographic expansion, and GPU purchases. However, Nebius has flagged the need for additional funding as a key risk, along with execution risks related to data-center scale, electricity costs, supply chain constraints, and competition.
Valuation remains a concern for some investors. The pre-market price of around $235 is close to the average 12-month analyst target, suggesting limited near-term upside. The stock trades well above its 52-week low of $43.89 but below the high of $278.84, reflecting its high-growth, high-volatility nature.
Market Implications
Nebius's inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 marks a transition from an emerging AI infrastructure player to a stock tracked by a broad array of index funds and growth-focused investors. This shift could drive additional demand from passive investment vehicles. However, the sustainability of the rally will depend on whether index flows and continued AI cloud growth can offset concerns over valuation, capital intensity, and execution risk.
For now, Nebius remains a high-risk, high-reward bet on the AI infrastructure theme, appealing to investors with a strong appetite for volatility.
