Nebius Group (NBIS -1.37%) has been an incredible stock to own in 2026. It has risen by more than 220% year to date, and has recovered nearly all of the losses it sustained during July's tech-sector sell-off. Its rise recently has been swift, including a jump of more than 40% in the past few weeks.
The catalyst for that growth? Its second-quarter report. Nebius knocked it out of the park with its results, and management assured investors that its impressive growth rate will likely continue into the near future. And despite its recent rally, there's still plenty of room for the stock to run.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Nebius's growth rate is among the fastest in the market
Nebius operates a neocloud business, which means that it's focused on providing AI-first cloud computing services. The hyperscalers that lead the cloud infrastructure sector have booked a significant backlog of business, and they're trying to get their hands on as much computing power as possible to meet those obligations and turn backlogs into revenues. Some of Nebius's biggest clients are companies that are spending big to build computing infrastructure themselves.
Nebius is rapidly expanding its data center footprint, and has brought several new facilities online throughout 2026. This has led to tremendous growth. In Q2, its revenue rose by 454% year over year, and the rapid growth is not expected to dissipate anytime soon.
NASDAQ: NBIS
Key Data Points
Wall Street expects 446% growth in the third quarter and 526% in the fourth. In 2027, analysts expect 250% growth. By the end of next year, the business will have transformed massively from where it was at the end of 2025.
With big revenue growth still to come, I'm confident that Nebius's stock can continue to do well in the future. It will be hard for most rivals to replicate this kind of growth.
The only red flag I see is Nebius' spending. It's pouring every penny it can get its hands on into its capital expense budget, and it isn't producing any profits. This shouldn't come as a surprise to investors, as Nebius wants to capture market share while it can, but it will eventually have to flip its focus from top-line growth to turning a profit. That won't be easy, and could lead to some headaches for investors when it occurs. But given that the AI build-out doesn't look like it will slow down anytime soon, it may be years before investors start wanting Nebius to shift gears and prove that it can operate its data centers profitably.
There is plenty more upside ahead for Nebius, but investors should still keep an eye on its profitability and where it's trending as the AI build-out phase matures.
