Meta Just Signed a $27 Billion Artificial Intelligence (AI) Deal With This Under-the-Radar Stock. Is Nebius a Buy for 2026?

Core Insights - Meta Platforms has entered a significant five-year AI infrastructure agreement with Nebius Group, valued at $27 billion, which includes $12 billion of dedicated processing capacity and an additional $15 billion for future compute capacity [1][2] - Nebius has seen substantial growth, with its market cap increasing from over $28 billion to above $32 billion following the announcement of the deal with Meta, reflecting a 17% rise in its stock price [3] - The demand for AI services has led to a notable increase in capital expenditures among major cloud operators, with nearly $700 billion planned for 2026 to expand data center capacities [5] Company Insights - Nebius is positioned as a neocloud operator, focusing on AI processing services, and has experienced rapid growth due to high demand, although it has not yet achieved consistent profitability [4] - The company reported a revenue of $530 million in 2025, marking a 479% year-over-year increase, but also faced an operating loss of $596 million, which worsened by 49% [4] - Despite its growth potential, Nebius's stock is considered expensive at 57 times sales, indicating a high-risk, high-reward investment opportunity [6]