Key Points

• Nebius stock has jumped impressively so far in 2026, and I won't be surprised to see it head higher due to its terrific prospects.

• Nebius trades at an expensive valuation right now, but it can multiply significantly even if it trades at significantly cheaper levels.

• Nebius' strong backlog suggests that it can still become a multibagger.

• 10 stocks we like better than Nebius Group ›

Shares of neocloud infrastructure provider Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) have taken off this year, jumping 182% as of this writing.

Nebius is becoming an important player in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure ecosystem as it develops and deploys dedicated data centers equipped with high-end chip systems to run AI workloads. What's more, Nebius provides software tools for developers and customers to help them deploy AI software to production, fine-tune models, and build agents, among other things.

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In simple terms, Nebius is offering a unified platform that allows customers not only to rent AI data center capacity but also to build and deploy AI solutions. Not surprisingly, the company has been experiencing impressive growth, and it has a strong enough backlog to ensure further upside over the next three years.

Nebius' accelerating growth suggests that it is poised to fly higher

Nebius released its second-quarter results last month. The company's revenue has shot up by a whopping 529% in the first six months of 2026 to $981 million. Even better, it has been quickly cutting its losses by taking prepayments from customers, which is helping it reduce upfront investments in AI infrastructure from its own pocket.

Specifically, 70% of the contracts Nebius closed in Q2 included upfront payments. The company notes that it is on track to receive over $9 billion in customer prepayments this year, which will help reduce the need to issue equity and take on debt to fund infrastructure development. At the same time, the growing contribution from Nebius' Token Factory, its software platform that helps customers run AI models and inference solutions, is boosting its bottom line.

The company's adjusted net loss has shrunk by 24% in the first six months of 2026 to $133.5 million. In fact, Nebius' net loss dropped by a whopping 64% year over year in the previous quarter to $33.2 million. More importantly, the company's improving revenue growth trajectory indicates that it may not take long to become profitable.

Nebius' total contract value increased by 4x on a sequential basis in the second quarter. It struck four large deals during the quarter, with an average value exceeding $1 billion. What's more, the company now commands a higher average contract value (ACV) per megawatt of capacity it lets out. The ACV per megawatt was more than $20 million in Q2, and the short-term deals Nebius is striking in Q3 have an ACV exceeding $40 million.

Additionally, the inference workloads running on Token Factory increased by 3x last quarter. All this indicates robust demand for Nebius' full-stack AI infrastructure suite. Not surprisingly, Nebius sees its annualized run-rate revenue (ARR) increase from $3 billion in June to $7-$9 billion by the end of 2026. That number could increase in the future, driven by Nebius' backlog of over $40 billion.

This impressive backlog and the growing demand for Nebius' software stack are the reasons why the company is expected to deliver exponential revenue growth.

NBIS Revenue Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts

Here's why you should be investing $1,000 in this AI stock

Investors may be wondering if Nebius stock can deliver more gains following its phenomenal run in 2026. After all, Nebius trades at an expensive 48 times sales, well above the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite index's price-to-sales ratio of 5.4.

However, the aggressive revenue growth at Nebius through 2028, supported by its terrific backlog, explains why it deserves to trade at a premium. Assuming Nebius trades at even 10 times sales and its revenue reaches $23.5 billion in 2028, its market cap could increase to $235 billion. That's 3.6x Nebius' market cap, implying a big jump over the next two and a half years.

So, if you have $1,000 in investible cash right now after paying your bills, clearing high-interest loans, and saving enough for tough times, putting that money into this growth stock could be a smart move considering its multibagger potential.

Should you buy stock in Nebius Group right now?

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Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.