CoreWeave and Nebius Group are prominent players in the high-demand GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) sector, providing specialized cloud infrastructure for AI workloads and notably backed by Nvidia. Both companies have exhibited explosive growth, with CoreWeave reporting over 300% year-over-year revenue increases and Nebius achieving 600% quarterly revenue growth, raising its annual guidance to $900 million-$1.1 billion. While both stocks have seen significant appreciation, Wall Street projects Nebius to have stronger short-term gains, though the long-term outlook for both remains positive due to sustained demand for AI compute capacity.
Key Points CoreWeave and Nebius both offer something in great need these days: capacity for AI workloads. Both companies also are backed by AI giant Nvidia. - 10 stocks we like better than CoreWeave › Investors have piled into artificial intelligence (AI) stocks in recent years, buying shares of companies involved in various areas of the technology -- from chip designers to players in fields like voice AI. The industry offers investors a wide range of choices, and many of these have already delivered significant gains. For example, chip designer Nvidia and voice AI player SoundHound AI have advanced 1,300% and nearly 400%, respectively, over three years. One area of AI that's emerged as a winning one is cloud infrastructure, most specifically the GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) space. Graphics processing units (GPUs) are the key chips driving crucial processes like the training and inferencing of models, so they are in great demand. GPUaaS companies allow customers to rent this compute as needed rather than going out and buying their own chips. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks » Two companies that have emerged as current and potentially future winners are CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) and Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS). Their stock prices have soared more than 200% and 300%, respectively, so far this year. Wall Street is optimistic about the future of these players, but expects double-digit gains from only one in the coming 12 months. The CoreWeave story CoreWeave's cloud offerings differ from those of major cloud providers because it specializes in AI workloads. Customers don't turn to CoreWeave for general cloud services but instead for top Nvidia GPUs to run their AI projects. Since CoreWeave focuses on this, it's able to optimize its offering to favor efficiency for its customers. Another plus is that CoreWeave has a particularly close relationship with Nvidia. Nvidia owns 7% of CoreWeave stock, signaling the chip giant's confidence in this business. And CoreWeave has been the first to launch Nvidia's latest platforms, such as the Blackwell architecture. This is important because every day counts for customers aiming to run their workloads -- the sooner they can get their projects going, the sooner those projects can bring in revenue. All of this has translated into explosive revenue growth for CoreWeave, with revenue advancing more than 400% year over year in the first quarter and revenue tripling year over year in the second quarter. The Nebius story Nebius, like CoreWeave, rents out compute to customers as well as access to managed services that they can use across their AI platforms. The company emerged last year after a reorganization of Russian technology company Yandex. Yandex businesses operating outside of Russia were kept and renamed Nebius, and the company's focus shifted to AI. Nvidia also has a stake in this up-and-coming cloud company, holding 1,190,476 shares, representing about 1.5% of Nvidia's investment portfolio, while CoreWeave accounts for 91% of Nvidia's holdings. Still, any investment from the chip giant is positive as Nvidia has what it takes to clearly assess the AI story ahead and may be well positioned to select winners. Like CoreWeave, Nebius has seen demand surge. In the company's latest earnings report, it said quarterly revenue climbed more than 600% to $105 million. And it increased its annual run rate revenue guidance to the range of $900 million to $1.1 billion -- up from an earlier forecast of $750 million to $1 billion. What Wall Street predicts Both of these stocks have roared higher recently. And now, a look at Wall Street's price forecasts shows the average prediction is for CoreWeave to advance 6% over the next 12 months and Nebius to climb 23%. These are just the average predictions. The most optimistic analyst forecasts a 75% gain for CoreWeave and a 66% increase for Nebius. Considering this, which stock should investors favor? Is one better than the other? Not necessarily. Wall Street estimates aren't an exact science, so it's possible CoreWeave and Nebius may not perform as predicted over the coming months. And 12 months is a pretty short term, so this period is unlikely to define a stock's full potential. It's better to take a long-term view, and here, we can see that both players could deliver revenue and stock performance thanks to demand for GPUaaS. Of course, there are risks involved in this newish market, so these stocks are better left to aggressive investors. But if you fall into this category, CoreWeave and Nebius both could make excellent additions to your long-term AI portfolio. Should you invest $1,000 in CoreWeave right now? Before you buy stock in CoreWeave, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and CoreWeave wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $642,328! Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,134,270! Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,064% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 191% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. Stock Advisor returns as of October 7, 2025 Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Nebius Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. The GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) sector is experiencing robust demand for AI workloads, positioning CoreWeave and Nebius Group as critical infrastructure providers. Both entities benefit from strategic backing by Nvidia, with the chip giant holding a 7% stake in CoreWeave and a notable, albeit smaller, stake in Nebius. This strategic alignment underscores their importance in the evolving AI ecosystem and provides a competitive advantage through early access to Nvidia's latest technologies, such as the Blackwell architecture. CoreWeave has demonstrated exceptional financial performance, with revenue surging over 400% year-over-year in Q1 and tripling in Q2. Similarly, Nebius reported a substantial quarterly revenue increase of over 600% to $105 million, subsequently raising its annual run rate revenue guidance to a range of $900 million to $1.1 billion. These figures highlight the explosive growth driven by the insatiable demand for specialized AI compute capacity. Despite both stocks experiencing significant appreciation, Wall Street's 12-month price forecasts suggest varying short-term outlooks, with Nebius projected to climb 23% compared to CoreWeave's 6% advance. However, the long-term prospects for both companies remain strong due to sustained demand for GPUaaS, making them potential long-term additions for investors with a higher risk tolerance in the AI infrastructure space.
AI-powered research, real-time alerts, and portfolio analytics for institutional investors.
Request a DemoOverall Sentiment
strongly positive
Sentiment Score
0.80
Ticker Sentiment
