Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) reported a blockbuster second quarter, delivering a 454% revenue surge that underscores the growing market demand for AI infrastructure.
The blowout results prompted founder and CEO Arkady Volozh to state the company could sell its “entire 2027 capacity today,” while market strategist Shay Boloor took a direct shot at prominent short-seller Michael Burry‘s short position in NBIS stock, quipping, “Close your ears, Michael Burry.”
Skyrocketing Demand and 2027 Capacity
The AI hyperscaler generated second-quarter revenue of $582.3 million, significantly beating Wall Street estimates. Driven by a core AI cloud business that grew 514% year-over-year, Nebius successfully closed four landmark cloud deals during the quarter, with an average total contract value exceeding $1 billion each.
This intense demand has given Nebius unprecedented pricing power. “We could sell today our entire 2027 capacity on these terms if we wanted to,” Volozh stated during the company’s earnings call. However, he noted that Nebius is deliberately holding some capacity back to serve short-term, immediate client needs at steep premiums.
‘Close Your Ears, Michael Burry’
The earnings report served as a direct counter-narrative to investor Burry. Days prior, Burry disclosed a short position against Nebius, comparing the AI infrastructure trade to “shooting fish in a barrel” due to his concerns over massive capital expenditures and uncertain returns.
However, Nebius revealed that the expected payback period for its latest AI cloud deals has dropped to just one year and 10 months. Reacting to this accelerated return on investment, Futurum Equities’ Boloor noted on the firm’s YouTube earnings review that “The unit economics also become a lot more easier to understand this quarter… Close your ears, Michael Burry.”
Margin Expansion and Customer Prepayments
Beyond top-line growth, Nebius proved the profitability of its model. Group adjusted EBITDA swung to a record $236.2 million, reflecting a massive 41% margin.
Furthermore, roughly 70% of the quarter’s deals included customer prepayments, which cover 50% to 60% of the associated capital expenditures.
“This is a company that’s spending tens of billions of dollars building AI infrastructure proving that those assets can produce this kind of margin,” Boloor observed, signaling a highly efficient capital structure for the growing company.
How Has NBIS Performed In 2026?
NBIS shares surged 209.66% year-to-date, 18.01% over the last year, and 188.87% over the last six months. It closed 34.14% higher at $259.20 per share on Wednesday, and it was 3.83% lower in premarket on Thursday.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NBIS maintains a strong price trend in the medium and long term but a weak trend in the short term, with a poor value score.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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