Nebius Group Surges 12% on $643 Million Eigen AI Acquisition as Inference Demand Soars

Quick overview

Shares of Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ: NBIS) rose more than 11% on Friday after the Amsterdam-based AI cloud business said it will buy U.S.-based AI inference and model optimization startup Eigen AI in a deal valued at about $643 million. The stock began at $154.49, near its 52-week high of $168.71 and continuing a stellar run that has seen the shares climb almost sixfold in the past twelve months.

Nebius’s Strategic Bet on Inference

The deal is a clear strategic move into AI inference, the running of trained models to produce outputs, which Eigen AI cofounder Ryan Hanrui Wang calls “the fastest-growing segment of AI. Wang predicts inference to account for almost two-thirds of overall compute demand in 2025, a stark projection underscoring the urgency behind the transaction.

The acquisition price will be paid in a mix of cash and Nebius Class A shares and the agreement is anticipated to finalize in the coming weeks. Once complete, Eigen AI’s inference and post-training optimization layers will be directly integrated into Nebius Token Factory, the company’s flagship inference and deployment platform. “Nebius has built a world-class AI cloud with a deep engineering culture that aligns perfectly with our own,” Wang said in a statement. Together, we are reducing the friction of AI model customisation and deployment so that developers can confidently run models in production without maintaining the underlying infrastructure.”

A Foothold in Silicon Valley

And more than the equipment, the transaction gives Nebius something just as valuable: a physical presence at the heart of American AI. The expansion of Nebius into the U.S. market will be bolstered by the establishment of an engineering and research base in the San Francisco Bay Area by Eigen AI researchers, as American corporations invest billions in AI infrastructure build-out.

It is part of a bigger ambition. Nebius already has a full-stack AI cloud platform—all the tools that customers need to train and deploy AI models—and the Eigen acquisition is intended to make that stack much more competitive on the inference layer, where the industry is increasingly battling.

Institutional and Retail Interest Heats Up

The announcement came as interest among investors was growing. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in NBIS in the fourth quarter, purchasing 107,541 shares worth roughly $9 million. While several other institutional investors have increased their holdings, institutions still own just 21.9% of the company, leaving plenty of possibility for much further institutional accumulation.

Sentiment on retail trading platform Stocktwits swung from neutral to optimistic on NBIS within 24 hours of the release. DA Davidson analysts boosted their price target on the stock from $150 to $200 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, according to The Fly. The stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.83.

Risks Remain Real for Nebius Investors

Despite the enthusiasm, there are reasons for investors to be cautious. Nebius remains unprofitable and analysts forecast a loss of $2.44 per share in the current fiscal year. The company failed both earnings and sales projections in its previous reported quarter in February. Insiders sold approximately 130,000 shares last quarter valued at over $14 million under pre-arranged trading strategies. The stock is quite volatile with a beta of 4.03.

Earnings are due May 13 for Q1 2026, and the way management portrays the Eigen integration and near-term revenue trajectory could either confirm the argument for the acquisition or inject considerable turmoil. For now, the markets seem to want to bet on Nebius’ vision of a world where inference, not merely training, is the defining fight of the AI era.

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Arslan Butt

Lead Markets Analyst – Multi-Asset (FX, Commodities, Crypto)

Arslan Butt serves as the Lead Commodities and Indices Analyst, bringing a wealth of expertise to the field. With an MBA in Behavioral Finance and active progress towards a Ph.D., Arslan possesses a deep understanding of market dynamics. His professional journey includes a significant role as a senior analyst at a leading brokerage firm, complementing his extensive experience as a market analyst and day trader. Adept in educating others, Arslan has a commendable track record as an instructor and public speaker. His incisive analyses, particularly within the realms of cryptocurrency and forex markets, are showcased across esteemed financial publications such as ForexCrunch, InsideBitcoins, and EconomyWatch, solidifying his reputation in the financial community.

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