New York, February 20, 2026, 14:49 (EST) — Regular session
- NBIS, which had climbed above $108 earlier, slid roughly 8% by the afternoon.
- The stock jumped more than 10% across the last two sessions, buoyed by upbeat analyst calls and a surge in options trading.
- Attention is on Nebius’ build-out plans for 2026, with investors weighing both execution and funding risks ahead of the next earnings window.
Shares of Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS) slid roughly 8% on Nasdaq Friday, falling to $99.12. The stock lost its grip on the $100 mark in the afternoon, after reaching as high as $108.30 earlier. Trading volume exceeded 12.8 million shares.
The shift is significant: Nebius occupies a central spot in the so-called “neo-cloud” space, the group of smaller firms leasing out AI compute power. Here, investors move fast, recalibrating stock prices on every scrap of news—demand, capacity, funding, it all gets priced in immediately.
Nebius surged more than 10% across Wednesday and Thursday, only to tumble Friday, a quick swing that highlights how rapidly capital has been moving in and out of the stock. 1
Compass Point’s Michael Donovan kicked off coverage with a buy call and set a $150 target, according to Benzinga. 2
Options traders kept things lively. On Thursday, TheFly spotted 16,540 calls changing hands — that’s roughly 1.4 times what’s typical. Implied volatility, which gauges the market’s expectations for share movement, climbed to around 94%, TipRanks reported. 3
Nebius wasn’t the only one sliding. TipRanks pointed out that CoreWeave and IREN—two other AI “neo-cloud” stocks—both took hard hits Friday. Tariff chatter and some fresh company news weighed on the group. 4
Amsterdam’s Nebius, which leases out Nvidia chips and cloud services, has Microsoft and Meta on its client list. The company recently reported a jump in capital spending for the quarter, announcing plans to open nine additional data-center locations. CEO Arkady Volozh noted, “demand … continues to outpace supply.” 5
During its earnings call on Feb. 12, the company outlined plans to spend between $16 billion and $20 billion on capital expenditures in 2026. About 60% of that is already covered by its balance sheet, ongoing operations, and existing commitments, according to management. They also mentioned looking into debt and asset-backed financing, stressing that if they end up issuing equity, they’ll stay “mindful about the shareholder dilution.” 6
The spending plan is tight—there’s barely any cushion for mistakes. If power hookups, GPU installation, or customer deliveries slip, revenue gets pushed back but costs don’t wait. That might leave the company reaching further into debt or tapping equity to cover the gap.
Nebius has struck a deal to acquire Tavily, according to a Feb. 10 SEC filing. The arrangement includes a cash payment up front. There’s more on the line, too: extra compensation could follow, depending on performance, and that payout might come as either more cash or Nebius Class A shares.
Tech stocks showed some strength: the Nasdaq-tracking QQQ ETF gained roughly 0.9%, and Nvidia tacked on about 0.7%. Nebius, though, bucked the trend.
Attention is now turning to the company’s upcoming results, with MarketBeat penciling in April 29 before the bell—though Nebius hasn’t set anything official. Investors want clarity on funding and, crucially, whether the ramped-up capacity is translating into booked revenue as quickly as expectations suggest. 7
