This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Has a $19.4 Billion Microsoft Deal, a $3 Billion Meta Deal, and Now a $2 Billion Nvidia Investment -- Is It a Buy for 2026?
Over the last year, Nebius Group(NASDAQ: NBIS) has emerged as a core pillar supporting artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. As hyperscalers accelerate data center build-outs, Nebius is uniquely positioned to benefit given the company's ability to provide raw compute and offer integrated chip systems designed to meet the demands of scaling AI workloads.
The company's recent strategic wins -- including deals with Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia -- position Nebius as a high-growth opportunity at the intersection of hardware and cloud computing.
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What does Nebius do?
Cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP) were originally designed to handle generic web applications. Nebius' business model is different. The company is often referred to as a neocloud -- architected specifically for AI training and inference.
Neoclouds have emerged as important enablers of AI adoption as these platforms offer a full-stack approach -- providing server racks, custom-built data centers, and cost-efficient access to GPU clusters and accompanying software services.
Validation across the board from AI hyperscalers
Perhaps the biggest source of validation for the neocloud approach is Nebius' ability to win over the hyperscalers that were historically considered challengers. In late 2025, Nebius secured multiyear, multibillion-dollar agreements with both Microsoft and Meta Platforms.
According to filings, the deal with Microsoft runs through 2031 and is valued at up to $19.4 billion. Nebius will provide Microsoft with GPU infrastructure capacity at its facilities in Vineland, New Jersey, to support rising demand for Azure.
Around the same time as the Microsoft win, Nebius also announced that it had signed a five-year, $3 billion AI infrastructure deal with Meta.
Beyond the dollar values of these landmark contracts, Nebius's ability to partner with multiple hyperscalers underscores a structural shift in the infrastructure market: Even the world's leading AI developers cannot scale their data footprints at a pace commensurate with capacity demands.
By outsourcing their needs to Nebius, Microsoft and Meta can reallocate some of their capital expenditure (capex) budgets away from data center construction and chip procurement while still ensuring capacity for their models.
In addition to working with Microsoft and Meta, Nebius also recently received a $2 billion investment from Nvidia. This decision makes strategic sense for Nvidia as it complements the company's existing investments in another leading neocloud, CoreWeave. As such, Nebius likely has preferred access to Nvidia's next-generation Rubin and Blackwell Ultra GPU architectures through this partnership -- ensuring its ability to provide ongoing capacity to its customers.
Is Nebius stock a buy in 2026?
The company's financial trajectory has rocketed over the last few years. For 2026, Nebius is guiding for a run rate between $7 billion and $9 billion in annual recurring revenue -- up from just $90 million two years ago.
Given this level of growth, it's not surprising that growth investors have flocked to Nebius stock. Over the last year, shares of Nebius have risen 326%.
This level of momentum might suggest that Nebius now boasts a premium valuation. However, using the midpoint of its 2026 ARR run rate, Nebius trades at an implied market cap-to-ARR (a proxy for price-to-sales) of 3.5. That's a pretty steep discount compared to CoreWeave, which trades at a P/S of 6.4.
While CoreWeave is admittedly much larger than Nebius, this wide of a disparity between valuation multiples might not be justified. Moreover, the bull thesis around Nebius is supported by the company's long-term, multibillion-dollar contracts with some of AI's most influential players. This provides the company with a rare degree of revenue visibility and ability to budget its infrastructure build-outs accordingly.
Investors with a long-term horizon may be compelled to initiate a position in Nebius to gain access to complementary markets beyond core hyperscalers and obvious data center opportunities. While growth stocks often exhibit outsize volatility, I see Nebius and the broader neocloud landscape as a solid buying opportunity in 2026 as big tech doubles down on AI capex initiatives.
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Adam Spatacco has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
