Over the past year, CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) and Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) have become two of the hottest names in AI infrastructure.
Both run massive GPU cloud platforms that power artificial intelligence training and inference workloads, and both stocks have exploded. CoreWeave is up more than 230%, while Nebius has surged over 500%.
With those kinds of gains, the question now is which one still offers meaningful upside.
Key Points
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Over $1 billion in quarterly revenue, a $30 billion backlog, and NVIDIA’s 7% stake with a guaranteed capacity deal through 2032 make CoreWeave the more stable AI infrastructure play.
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Revenue up 625% and a $17.4 billion Microsoft deal show strong momentum, but trading at 120× sales makes it risky if growth falters.
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Both ride AI’s compute boom, but CoreWeave’s scale and backing make it a steadier bet, while Nebius is a high-beta wild card.
CoreWeave Is Scaling Fast
CoreWeave’s growth has been nothing short of explosive. In the second quarter, it posted $1.2 billion in revenue, up from $395 million a year earlier. Its $30 billion revenue backlog gives it multi-year visibility few startups enjoy.
The company isn’t profitable yet, but its net loss margin shrank to 24% in just a year, a sign it’s scaling efficiently. The real game-changer, though, is NVIDIA’s backing. The chip giant owns about 7% of CoreWeave and has agreed to buy any unsold cloud capacity through 2032. That effectively guarantees CoreWeave a steady stream of demand for years. In fact, NVIDIA’s recent $6.3 billion order represents more than one-fifth of CoreWeave’s backlog.
What many investors don’t realize is that CoreWeave started as a crypto-mining firm before pivoting to AI. That background gave it deep expertise in running dense GPU clusters and power-optimized data centers, exactly the skills needed for AI computing. The company is still highly capital-intensive, but its strategic alignment with NVIDIA gives it stability in a volatile sector.
The Vertical Upstart With a Big Partner
Nebius, by contrast, is building vertically, controlling more of its own hardware, software, and orchestration layers. That vertical integration could help it squeeze out better margins over time.
Revenue grew 625% year-over-year in Q2 to $101 million, and management expects an annualized run rate between $900 million and $1.1 billion by year-end. Even more impressive, adjusted EBITDA turned positive earlier than expected.
Its defining moment came with a $17.4 billion deal with Microsoft, a multi-year partnership to supply AI infrastructure through 2031. The deal’s value exceeded Nebius’s market cap when announced, and the stock doubled almost overnight. The contract anchors its growth trajectory and validates its technology.
Nebius’s backstory is another hidden strength: it spun out of Yandex, Russia’s largest tech firm, inheriting a team skilled at building massive distributed systems. That experience could help it scale efficiently. But the valuation is hard to ignore, the stock trades at more than 120× trailing sales, implying perfection is already priced in.
Which One Looks Stronger Now?
Both companies are surfing the same megatrend: AI’s demand for compute is outpacing Moore’s Law, meaning GPU capacity needs are doubling faster than chip performance itself. That demand won’t slow anytime soon.
Still, CoreWeave looks like the steadier play. It’s already scaled past a billion dollars in quarterly revenue, margins are improving, and NVIDIA’s support gives it both credibility and downside protection. Its valuation, while rich, is far more grounded than Nebius’s.
Nebius remains the higher-risk, higher-reward bet. If it executes flawlessly, its partnership with Microsoft could be transformative. But given the current valuation, any stumble could lead to sharp downside.
For investors looking to ride the AI infrastructure boom without courting too much volatility, CoreWeave appears the smarter bet, a company with scale, strategic backing, and a clear path toward profitability. Nebius, while exciting, may need time to grow into its hype.