CoreWeave and Nebius compete in AI cloud infrastructure growth

CoreWeave and Nebius are competing in the AI cloud infrastructure market with diverging financial profiles. In Q2 2026, CoreWeave reported revenue of approximately $2.58 billion, a 112% year-over-year increase. This scale is supported by a massive contract backlog of $104 billion, including a deal with Meta valued at up to $21 billion.

Nebius reported revenue between $575 million and $582 million for the same period, representing a year-over-year growth rate exceeding 450%. While smaller in absolute terms, Nebius has secured agreements with Microsoft worth between $17.4 billion and $19.4 billion and is targeting an annualized revenue run-rate of $3 billion for its AI cloud segment.

Both companies are backed by $2 billion investments from Nvidia. However, their financial structures differ significantly. CoreWeave carries an estimated $33 billion to $35 billion in debt, with planned capital expenditures of $30 billion to $35 billion for 2026. In contrast, Nebius maintains cash reserves and expects over $9 billion in customer prepayments to fund its expansion.

Despite the growth, Rothschild Redburn recently downgraded both companies to ‘Sell’, citing concerns regarding debt sustainability, valuation, and unit economics.