Compare revenue growth, capital expenditure, funding requirements and implications for per-share value across two AI cloud providers.
Research reviewed 2026-09-19 · Financials: Q2 / H1 2026; prices through September 18.
Why compare them: both sell GPU cloud services for AI. This is a business-level comparison; Nebius also has businesses outside AI cloud, so consolidated financials are not pure-play equivalents.
Revenue growth and shareholder returns
Nebius grows faster from a smaller revenue base; CoreWeave already has a larger revenue business. Both reported quarterly losses and spent more on capital purchases than their operating cash inflow. Both also raise external capital.
Our interpretation: compare delivery, funding cost and dilution together. This is not a ranking or a price target.
Financial comparison for matched reporting periods
Nebius reports consolidated continuing operations, including businesses outside AI cloud; CoreWeave reports consolidated results. Net loss is an accounting result, not cash burn. Revenue growth = current Q2 revenue / prior Q2 revenue − 1.
Cash capital purchases include property, equipment and intangibles for Nebius, and property, equipment and capitalized software for CoreWeave. The difference from operating cash is our simple calculation, not issuer-defined free cash flow or a forecast funding requirement. It excludes acquisitions, non-cash additions, financing and debt repayments. Customer prepayments can boost operating cash before revenue is earned. June cash is not today’s balance.
Financing structures and dilution
NBIS · 2026-08-24
$5.75bn notes closed
Two tranches: 0.50% due 2030 and 4.50% due 2034. The announcement also describes exchanging $800m of older notes for approximately 15.8m Class A shares. Nebius is not free from share dilution.
An ATM program allows up to 35m Class A shares, including forward-sale arrangements; this is not evidence that all shares were issued. Separately, $3.7bn of 2.875% notes due 2033 were priced, with a $500m option. Settlement was scheduled for September 22, not completed at this review.
CoreWeave’s initial conversion price is about $97.85. Settlement can be cash, shares or both. Purchased capped calls are intended to reduce dilution within their terms, with an initial cap of $199.70; they do not remove all risk and cost money. These prices are contractual terms, not forecasts.
New shares spread ownership across more shares; selling existing shares does not itself increase total shares. Convertible dilution depends on conversion and settlement. The key test is whether the capital creates more value per share than it costs.
Historical share-price performance
Regular-session closes in USD. Compare the same dates, not different peaks or intraday quotes.
Date
NBIS
CRWV
2026-08-31
$206.32
$84.89
2026-09-16
$209.37
$83.35
2026-09-17
$217.99
$79.88
2026-09-18
$223.54
$81.36
Aug 31 → Sep 18
+8.3%
-4.2%
Historical source: Stock Analysis / S&P Global; price change = end close / start close − 1, excluding dividends. Dated observations, not live quotes. NBIS ↗CRWV ↗
CRWV fell about 4.2% on September 17, then rose about 1.9% on September 18. Financing news is relevant context, but these closes alone cannot establish what caused the move. This short window does not prove long-term superiority or that either company is undervalued.
Conditions for validating the investment thesis
NBIS
Assess capacity delivery and cash collection underlying revenue growth, loss reduction and the contribution of new financing to durable cash generation. Evaluate growth rates in the context of the smaller revenue base and delivery capacity.
CRWV
Watch whether its larger revenue base starts covering expansion and financing costs, and whether actual share issuance stays proportionate to value created. Additional contracts alone do not establish these outcomes.
For both: review accepted capacity, contract cancellation and payment terms, customer concentration, debt maturities and fully diluted share count. Neither revenue growth nor a low share price alone establishes a buy case. A current valuation needs synchronized market value, net debt and dilution assumptions; this page does not establish relative undervaluation.