Nebius Group N.V. NBIS has built a sturdy cash profile with $9.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter of 2026. A strong cash position offers ample financial flexibility to pursue expansion, both organic and inorganic.
The cash build was driven by various financial initiatives, including a $4.3 billion convertible debt raise (gross proceeds) and a $2 billion equity investment from NVIDIA, alongside customer upfront payments that boosted operating cash flow to $2.3 billion for the quarter.
This fortified balance sheet comes at a time when Nebius is rapidly focused on capacity expansion, which has led to a sharp acceleration in capital expenditures. Capex for 2026 is now expected to be $20-$25 billion, up from its earlier guidance of $16-$20 billion.
Management noted that the capacity deployment is tied to visibility into future demand, particularly for 2027, for which it already has customer commitments in place. The company also noted that it is already selling out the available capacity, with demand consistently exceeding supply, implying that spending is less speculative and more about meeting anticipated workloads.
Nebius Group N.V. Cash and Equivalents (Quarterly)
Nebius Group N.V. cash-equivalents-quarterly | Nebius Group N.V. Quote
Importantly, Nebius is using various sources to fund capacity expansion. The company is raising capital through asset-backed financing buoyed by its contracts with Meta and Microsoft MSFT. Other financing options include corporate-level debt and an at-the-market program.
With demand continuing to exceed supply and most capacity already sold out, Nebius appears well positioned to convert its cash strength into capacity expansion. While execution remains key, the company’s sizable cash and funding flexibility provide a strong foundation to scale its AI cloud platform. However, the opportunity is unfolding in a highly competitive space with tech giants and pure plays like CoreWeave CRWV aggressively focused on capacity build to capture a rapidly developing market.
Taking a Look at Competitors’ Financial Resources
CoreWeave is shoring up its financial resources to support AI infrastructure buildouts. At the first quarter-end, the company had more than $3.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities, while securing more than $20 billion in debt and equity capital financing year to date (as announced on the last earnings call), widening access to capital while lowering its cost of debt.
Like NBIS, the company also raised $2 billion in equity tied to its NVIDIA partnership. CRWV has dramatically accelerated investments to keep up with AI demand. 2026 capital expenditures are projected to be between $31 billion and $35 billion, reflecting the broad scale of its AI infrastructure ambitions.
