Nebius Surges 81% YTD: How Should Investors Play NBIS Stock?

Core Insights - Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS) shares have increased by 81.4% year to date, significantly outperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the Zacks Internet Software Services industry's growth of 7.9% and 26.8%, respectively [1] - The S&P 500 Composite has risen by 6.2% during the same period [1] Price Performance - The stock's performance has surpassed major players like Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN), which have gained 18.3% and 1.8%, respectively [4] - CoreWeave (CRWV) has experienced a remarkable increase of 313% since its trading debut on March 28 [4] Challenges for Nebius - Nebius, based in Amsterdam, is a neo cloud company that has recovered from a significant sell-off in April, but still faces challenges due to a volatile global macroeconomic environment [5] - The company competes with major players in the AI cloud infrastructure space, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, as well as smaller competitors like CoreWeave [5] Market Dynamics - Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure dominate over half of the cloud infrastructure services market [6] - Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI provides Azure with priority access to leading AI models, while Amazon's AI segment is experiencing triple-digit percentage growth year over year [6] Financial Performance - Despite strong top-line growth, NBIS remains unprofitable, with management indicating that adjusted EBITDA will be negative for the full year 2025, although it expects to turn positive in the second half of 2025 [7][9] - The company has raised its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to approximately $2 billion, up from $1.5 billion, which raises concerns about sustaining high capital intensity amid fluctuating revenues [8] Strategic Focus - Nebius is concentrating on technical enhancements to improve reliability and reduce downtime, aiming to boost customer retention and increase its share of the AI cloud compute market [9] - The company has reaffirmed its annual recurring revenue (ARR) guidance of $750 million to $1 billion and overall revenue guidance of $500 million to $700 million for 2025 [9] Valuation Concerns - Nebius appears overvalued, indicated by a Value Score of F, with shares trading at a Price/Book ratio of 3.75X, lower than the Internet Software Services industry's ratio of 4.2X [12][13] Investment Outlook - Given the intense competition from hyperscalers and ongoing unprofitability, the near-term outlook for NBIS is tempered, leading to suggestions that investors may consider locking in gains and offloading the stock [14]