Key Highlights
- Nebius announced construction plans for an AI data center in Lappeenranta, Finland, featuring capacity of up to 310 MW — among Europe’s most substantial facilities.
- The project’s value is estimated to exceed $10 billion, with first customer deployments anticipated in 2027.
- NBIS shares have climbed 10% in 2026, significantly outperforming competitors like CoreWeave (down 3.4%) and IREN (down 16%).
- Recent strategic wins include a $2 billion capital commitment from Nvidia and a cloud services partnership with Meta valued at up to $27 billion.
- The firm aims to lock in over 3 GW of contracted power capacity worldwide before year-end, having already secured 750+ MW across EMEA markets.
Shares of Nebius (NBIS) climbed to $95.31 during Tuesday’s premarket session, representing a 3.3% increase before regular trading commenced.
The AI infrastructure provider has demonstrated impressive momentum in early 2026. Through Monday’s closing bell, NBIS had surged 10% year-to-date, sharply contrasting with the performance of fellow neocloud operators. CoreWeave has declined 3.4% during the same period, while IREN has tumbled 16%.
The Tuesday premarket rally followed Nebius’s disclosure of an expansive new data center initiative in Lappeenranta, Finland.
The planned installation will feature up to 310 MW of capacity, positioning it among Europe’s most ambitious AI infrastructure developments. Nebius projects initial customer operations will commence in 2027.
While the company chose not to disclose specific investment totals for the undertaking, Reuters sources pegged the estimated project value at more than $10 billion.
“This represents a multiyear capital commitment that corresponds with the substantial demand we’re witnessing for AI infrastructure,” a company spokesperson stated. “We’re in discussions with diverse potential customers spanning AI-native firms, enterprise clients, and academic research organizations.”
Chief Executive Arkady Volozh characterized the Lappeenranta location as “a major milestone in our worldwide AI infrastructure expansion strategy.”
Strategic Partnerships With Tech Giants Fuel Growth
NBIS’s strong 2026 showing has been bolstered by two significant strategic agreements. Earlier in the year, Nvidia pledged a $2 billion equity investment in the company. This was followed by a landmark cloud computing arrangement with Meta Platforms carrying a potential value of up to $27 billion.
These high-profile partnerships have distinguished Nebius from competing neocloud providers, many of which have experienced greater volatility driven by retail investor activity and fluctuating market sentiment surrounding artificial intelligence stocks.
Operating from Netherlands headquarters while maintaining a U.S. stock listing, Nebius has set an ambitious target of securing more than 3 GW of contracted power capacity before 2025 concludes.
Across the EMEA region specifically, the company has already locked in excess of 750 MW of contracted power. This total includes an AI factory facility near Lille, France, projected to achieve 240 MW capacity at full buildout.
Contributing to Europe’s AI Infrastructure Expansion
The Finnish facility announcement arrives amid an acceleration of AI infrastructure capital deployment across Europe.
French artificial intelligence startup Mistral obtained $830 million in debt financing this week to fund a data center project near Paris. Previously, the company unveiled a 1.2 billion euro initiative to establish computing infrastructure in Sweden.
U.K.-based Nscale successfully raised $2 billion at a $14.6 billion valuation this month, with plans to develop data center assets throughout Europe and North America.
Additional recent developments in the sector include a 1.4 GW AI campus in France involving MGX, Bpifrance, Mistral, and Nvidia as partners, alongside Brookfield’s announced intention to deploy up to $9.9 billion toward a Swedish AI data center. OpenAI has also revealed plans for a Stargate-style facility in Norway, partnering with Nscale on the project.
Earlier this month, Nebius disclosed it had obtained regulatory clearance for its inaugural gigawatt-scale data center, planned for construction in Missouri.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
