Why Nebius Rallied Today

By Billy Duberstein – Dec 19, 2025 at 2:55PM ESTKey PointsA key Nebius peer saw positive analyst coverage today, boosting the whole AI neocloud sector.

Another Wall Street analyst idetified Nebius as a potential acquisition target in 2026.These stocks have had tremendous years, but have seen large pullbacks over the past two months or so. These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›NASDAQ: NBISNebius GroupMarket Cap$20BToday's Changeangle-down(14.30%) $11.17Current Price$89.26Price as of December 19, 2025 at 3:14 PM ETNebius has corrected 45% along with other "neoclouds," but demand for their AI compute doesn't seem to be slowing.Shares of European AI "neocloud" Nebius Group (NBIS +14.30%) rallied on Friday, up 13.7% as of 2:54 p.m. EDT. One of Nebius' neocloud peers received an analyst upgrade today; meanwhile, another sell-side analyst identified Nebius as a potential acquisition candidate for 2026. ExpandNASDAQ: NBISNebius GroupToday's Change(14.30%) $11.17Current Price$89.26Key Data PointsMarket Cap$20BDay's Range$80.16 - $89.3352wk Range$18.31 - $141.10Volume13MAvg Vol19MGross Margin-1312.43% Could a U.S. tech giant buy Nebius? First, Nebius was likely up in part due to widespread strength throughout the AI infrastructure sector today. This cohort of stocks has had a fantastic year, but recently ran into weakness after debt investors balked at lending to AI data centers in recent weeks. Others have fretted about any company with ties to OpenAI and its ambitious spending plans. Still, there have been no tangible signs of a slowdown in demand. To that effect, Citi analyst Tyler Radke renewed his coverage of Nebius peer CoreWeave (CRWV +23.27%) today, giving the stock a "Buy" rating and a $135 price target. For reference, CoreWeave began the day at $67.68 and is up 22.5% on the day as of this writing. CoreWeave is also one of Nebius' main peers, so Radke's positive analysis of overwhelming demand for AI compute also bodes well for Nebius. Additionally, Nebius was mentioned by another Wall Street analyst. Wedbush's analyst Dan Ives noted that 2026 could see an acquisition of one of the large neoclouds by a major cloud hyperscaler such as Amazon or Microsoft. Of the possible targets, Ives identified Nebius as the highest-probability target for hyperscalers. Advertisement Image source: Getty Images. Nebius and neoclouds are high-risk, high-upside bets AI neoclouds have been on a wild ride in 2025. Nebius, for its part, is up a whopping 220% on the year. That being said, the stock, like its AI peers, has pulled back a lot, down some 45% from its all-time highs in mid-October. Whether the pullback is merely a healthy correction before more upside, or whether it portends something worse, will likely be determined by the ongoing demand for AI compute, the useful life of AI GPUs, and the supply constraints for power-connected land available for data centers. As of now, it doesn't appear that compute demand is slowing at all.Read NextDec 19, 2025 •By Neil RozenbaumThe AI Bubble Is Popping: Why These Stocks Are CrashingDec 18, 2025 •By James BrumleyPrediction: This Artificial Intelligence Company Will Be Acquired in 2026Dec 14, 2025 •By Leo SunCould Investing $10,000 in Nebius Stock Make You a Millionaire?Dec 13, 2025 •By Neil RozenbaumWhy Have Nebius, CoreWeave, and Iren Stock All Fallen This Week?Dec 13, 2025 •By Patrick SandersBetter AI Infrastructure Stock: Nebius Group vs. Iren LimitedDec 10, 2025 •By Harsh ChauhanWhere Will Nebius Stock Be in 1 Year?About the AuthorBilly Duberstein is a contributing Motley Fool technology analyst covering semiconductors, hardware, software, and AI, as well as consumer goods. Billy loves looking at the story behind investments from an interdisciplinary point of view, with an equal appetite for high-growth disruptors and beaten-down value names. He is also CEO of Stone Oak Capital, a registered investment adviser in California. He previously worked as a technology analyst for several hedge funds and as a research assistant at Wedbush Securities. Billy holds an MBA in finance from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Virginia.TMFStoneOakStocks MentionedNebius GroupNASDAQ: NBIS$89.26 (+0.14%) $+11.17MicrosoftNASDAQ: MSFT$483.70 (0.00%) $0.28AmazonNASDAQ: AMZN$228.61 (+0.01%) $+1.85CitigroupNYSE: C$115.26 (+0.02%) $+2.43CoreWeaveNASDAQ: CRWV$83.43 (+0.23%) $+15.75*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.Advertisement