Nebius Group: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors

On its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, held on Nov. 12, 2026, Nebius Group (NASDAQ:NBIS) announced that customer pre-payments now cover all capital expenditures (capex) for new capacity builds. Funding infrastructure expansions directly through customer pre-payments reduces reliance on high-cost debt while securing a path to pre-tax profitability by late 2027. Three things management said on the call stand out.

1. Customer Pre-Payments Now Cover 100% of Build-Out Costs

Customers are paying larger sums up front to lock in artificial intelligence (AI) compute capacity, which shortens the investment payback window to 19 months. This pre-payment model fully funds new capacity additions while insulating the balance sheet from external debt markets.

The most important change is that the pre-payments on new contracts now cover more than 100% of the capital needed to bring this contracted capacity online. Just to remind you, last quarter, it was 50% to 60%.
-- Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer

2. Capacity Pricing Escalates Above $25 Million per Megawatt

High customer demand allows the company to require larger contract pricing and longer commitments from enterprise clients. Pricing power continues to expand as computing capacity remains scarce across the industry.

Demand is strong. Our customers are committing to us for longer at higher prices, and they are paying more upfront. Prices kept rising. Q3 agreements closed above $25 million per megawatt, another step up from the $20 million to $25 million per megawatt we achieved in Q2.
-- Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer

3. In-House Data Centers Will Drive the Next Gigawatt

Third-party co-location delays pushed some planned 2026 revenue into early 2027, highlighting the operational risks of leased facilities. Developing self-built sites gives management full operational control over power, shell construction, and deployment pace.

But with our own sites, we remain on track and even ahead of schedule. That's important because going forward, most of the next gigawatt we are bringing online will be on our own sites, where our own team does everything: land, power, shell, hardware, software and operations.
-- Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer

Looking Ahead

Top-line growth is accelerating rapidly as new computing capacity comes online across self-owned facilities, which eliminate third-party rental costs and expand operating margins. Controlling power infrastructure and land acquisition provides structural cost advantages over rivals who rely entirely on co-location providers.

Management is prioritizing site commissioning schedules and customer pre-payment ratios to preserve pricing discipline and capital efficiency.

Now turning to our 2027 outlook. We expect revenue to increase by around 4x to $12 billion to $13 billion. We also are excited to have a path to profitability.
-- Dado Alonso, Chief Financial Officer

Proprietary software integration and direct hardware manufacturing support long-term pricing power across enterprise and artificial intelligence clients.

We are building a business and a financial model that can thrive in good markets and be resilient in challenging times. We expect revenue to quadruple next year on a conservative view of the pace of our build-out, and we expect to reach pre-tax profitability in the fourth quarter.
-- Arkady Volozh, Chief Executive Officer

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