Nebius beats quarterly revenue estimates as AI demand fuels growth

Aug. 12 (Reuters) - Nebius Group surpassed second-quarter revenue estimates on Wednesday as booming demand for AI infrastructure and cloud services helped the company win larger contracts and raise prices for computing capacity, sending its shares up 12% in premarket trading.

The Amsterdam-based AI infrastructure firm reported total revenue of $582.3 million for the quarter ended June, compared with analysts' average estimate of $572.75 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. Revenue at its core AI cloud business, which accounted for about 98% of group revenue, rose more than 500%.

Nebius said it closed four landmark AI cloud deals during the quarter, each with an average total contract value of more than $1 billion, with total contract value growing nearly fourfold from the previous quarter.

Nebius, which provides access to Nvidia graphics processing units and AI cloud services, is part of a growing group of so-called neocloud companies that rent computing capacity to businesses developing and deploying AI applications.

The company said pricing strengthened during the quarter, aided by demand for next-generation AI chips and higher rates for older-generation GPUs. Roughly 70% of deals signed in the period included customer prepayments, which covered 50% to 60% of associated capital expenditure.

Shares of Nebius have surged more than 130% this year as investors bet on continued growth in demand for AI infrastructure.

The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 outlook and said demand for AI computing capacity continued to accelerate, helping it secure larger and more profitable customer contracts.