AI‑infrastructure stocks have been the market’s adrenaline shot for more than a year now. Yet the ground is shifting. Investors have rotated from “buy the narrative” to “show me the cash flow.” Pure‑play AI cloud builders, companies that don’t just rent GPUs but own the concrete, steel, and fiber, are suddenly the act that everyone wants to see.

Into this glare steps Nebius Group (NBIS), the Amsterdam‑based full‑stack AI cloud operator, which has rapidly rebuilt itself after sanctions-related disruption and grown into a $45 billion AI infrastructure player that few investors expected.

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So now, on Wednesday, May 13, before the opening bell, it reports first‑quarter 2026 numbers. For anyone holding shares or just watching the AI trade, that date is now circled in red.

How Did Nebius Stock Perform?

Nebius shares have been on the tear. It surged by about 111% year-to-date and more than 527% over the past 12 months, making it one of the biggest winners in the AI infrastructure trade. The rally has been driven by major contract wins, expanding demand for AI cloud capacity, and growing investor confidence that Nebius is becoming a serious long-term player in the space.

Among the biggest catalysts was Nebius’ landmark contract with Meta (META), which helped cement the company’s place among the more serious players in AI cloud infrastructure. The company also gained attention after announcing a strategic tie-up with Nvidia (NVDA), a move that many investors viewed as a strong validation of Nebius’ position in the market.

More recently, Nebius said it would acquire Eigen AI, a small but specialized inference-optimization company, for about $643 million. That deal matters because it fits neatly into Nebius’ higher-margin Token Factory platform, which is designed to serve production workloads rather than simply offer raw compute.

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What to Expect From the Upcoming Report

All of that now leads to May 13, when Nebius is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results before the opening bell. This is the first major earnings test since the market began pricing the company more like a scaled AI infrastructure winner than a speculative growth story.

Wall Street is expecting revenue in the high $300 million range for the quarter, with losses ($0.81) still likely as the company continues to spend heavily on expansion. That is not unusual for a business at this stage, but it does mean the bar is high. A strong print could reinforce the idea that Nebius is becoming an execution story.

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