Nebius vs CoreWeave: Which AI Stock Should You Buy in 2026?

TLDR

• CoreWeave reported $2.1B in Q1 2026 revenue, up 112% year-over-year, with a ~$100B contracted backlog
• Nebius posted $399M in revenue with 684% year-over-year growth, beating expectations
• CoreWeave carries ~$14B in debt and plans $30B–$35B in capital spending in 2026
• Nebius holds $3.7B in cash and has deals with Meta and Microsoft backing its growth
• Analysts rate both stocks Moderate Buy, but see them as different risk profiles

Both CoreWeave and Nebius operate in the “neocloud” space, providing GPU-heavy computing power for AI workloads. Neither is trying to compete with Amazon, Google, or Microsoft as a full-service cloud provider. Instead, they focus on what AI companies need most: raw compute.

That shared focus is where the similarities end.

CoreWeave: Scale and Backlog

CoreWeave is the bigger business by a wide margin. The company reported $2.1 billion in first-quarter 2026 revenue, up 112% from the same period a year earlier.

CoreWeave, Inc. Class A Common Stock, CRWV

It also booked more than $40 billion in new commitments during the quarter. That pushed its total contracted revenue backlog to nearly $100 billion.

Those numbers show why CoreWeave has become one of the most-watched AI infrastructure stocks. It is no longer a niche player. It has real scale.

But that growth is expensive. CoreWeave plans to spend $30 billion to $35 billion on capital expenditure in 2026, after spending $14.9 billion in 2025. The company also carries around $14 billion in debt.

Investors betting on CoreWeave are not just betting on demand. They are betting the company can keep funding that expansion.

Nebius: Faster Growth, Cleaner Balance Sheet

Nebius is smaller, but growing faster in percentage terms. The company reported $399 million in revenue for the quarter ending May 14, 2026, representing 684% growth year-over-year.

Nebius Group N.V., NBIS

It ended 2025 with $3.7 billion in cash. That gives it room to invest without the same debt pressure CoreWeave faces.

Nebius also has major customers behind it. The company signed a $3 billion, five-year deal with Meta in late 2025. Before that, it landed a $17.4 billion agreement with Microsoft.

Management is targeting $7 billion to $9 billion in annualized run-rate revenue by the end of 2026. That would represent a dramatic jump from where the company stands today.

What Analysts Think

Wall Street is positive on both stocks, but for different reasons.

CoreWeave holds a Moderate Buy consensus from 32 analysts: 19 buys, 11 holds, and 2 sells. Nebius also carries a Moderate Buy, with 2 strong buys, 9 buys, 1 hold, and 1 sell.

CoreWeave gets credit for its current size. Nebius is seen as the earlier-stage trade with more room to run.

The risk profiles differ too. CoreWeave is a large, capital-heavy operation. Nebius is still proving itself operationally, and its stock reflects future potential more than current results.

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