Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS) Co-Founder Sees Huge AI Demand Ahead Backed by Mega Microsoft, Meta Deals

With significant hedge fund interest and upside potential, Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) secures a spot on our list of the 15 best AI stocks to watch in December 2025.

Appearing in an interview with Reuters on December 3, 2025, Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS)’s co-founder Roman Chernin spoke with optimism. He argued that demand for AI infrastructure can potentially expand ten- to hundred-fold once enterprises start to adopt rapidly evolving AI models. He shared that the company is building high-margin services and long-term customer relationships to prepare itself for potential downturns. This, he believes, positions the company to act as a consolidator if market conditions tighten.

Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS)’s expansion strategy includes multibillion-dollar agreements with Microsoft and Meta. These include a $17 billion Microsoft deal signed in September and a $3 billion Meta partnership announced in November. Thanks to these strategic plays, NBIS has risen 248% so far in 2025, with its market cap surpassing the $25-billion mark. Chernin added that these efforts will now be leveraged to expand the company’s client base across traditional enterprises and emerging AI companies amid concerns about an AI bubble.

Meanwhile, the significance of these partnerships was highlighted in earlier analyst commentaries.

Reaffirming its “Buy” rating on November 13, BWS Financial cited strong demand for Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS)’s AI cloud services and sees the Meta agreement as evidence of growing market confidence, despite short-term operational headwinds.

On the other hand, Citizens JMP initiated coverage of Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) on November 19, 2025, setting a $175 price target and an “Outperform” rating. The investment firm noted a shift in broader sentiment, with analysts now seeing the company as a credible ecosystem player, thanks to the Microsoft and Meta deals. The firm added that partnerships with these tech giants dismissed investor concerns tied to the company’s historical links to Yandex.

Through its Avride and TripeTen assets, as well as stakes in Toloka and ClickHouse, Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS) delivers advanced AI infrastructure solutions to support large-scale compute and data workloads.

While we acknowledge the potential of NBIS to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NBIS and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None.