AI cloud infrastructure providers CoreWeave and Nebius are scaling at a rapid pace, but their latest financial results show the two companies competing from markedly different positions of size and financial strength. Both companies sell access to the GPU-dense computing power behind modern AI systems, and their largest contracts now sit with some of the biggest names in technology.

CoreWeave posted second-quarter 2026 revenue of roughly $2.58 billion, a 112% increase from the same quarter last year. Nebius reported revenue of $575 million to $582 million for the same period, representing growth of more than 450% year over year.

Revenue Scale and Contracted Backlog

CoreWeave's raw revenue advantage is clear: the company earns roughly four and a half times what Nebius does each quarter. Its contracted backlog stands at $104 billion, with an additional $25 billion in contracts secured in early Q3. The largest single commitment is a deal with Meta valued at up to $21 billion.

Backlogs of this size matter because they represent revenue already agreed under multiyear contracts, making them the sector's closest equivalent to a demand pipeline.

Nebius, meanwhile, has locked in agreements with Microsoft worth between $17.4 billion and $19.4 billion, and its AI cloud segment is targeting an annualized revenue run-rate of $3 billion.

Power Capacity

On the infrastructure side, CoreWeave currently operates about 1.5 gigawatts of active power capacity, with 3.7 gigawatts under contract. Nebius has contracted more than 3.5 gigawatts and aims to bring 800 megawatts to 1 gigawatt of active capacity online by the end of 2026.

The distance between contracted and active gigawatts reflects one of the AI buildout's defining constraints: power for large data centers is scarce and slow to secure, so capacity converts into revenue only as facilities are energized.

Both companies have received $2 billion investments from Nvidia, which serves as both a strategic backer and the supplier of the chips on which their business models depend.

Debt Versus Flexibility

CoreWeave carries an estimated $33 billion to $35 billion in debt, with capital expenditure plans of $30 billion to $35 billion penciled in for 2026 alone.

Nebius ended 2025 with substantial cash reserves and expects more than $9 billion in customer prepayments to fund its 2026 expansion. If demand slows, Nebius has already collected a portion of its revenue; CoreWeave would still owe its creditors. The contrast illustrates the two funding models now common among GPU cloud operators: borrowing against future contracts versus letting customers finance expansion upfront.

Wall Street Turns Cautious

Rothschild Redburn recently downgraded both CoreWeave and Nebius to Sell, citing concerns about valuation, debt sustainability, and unit economics. The firm's analyst price targets landed at $54 for CoreWeave and $84 for Nebius. Those downgrades contrast with a broader moderate buy consensus across the Street.

The disagreement makes upcoming quarterly reports worth watching, particularly progress against milestones already on record: CoreWeave's 2026 capital expenditure program and the conversion of its $104 billion backlog into recognized revenue, and Nebius's year-end 2026 capacity target alongside its $3 billion run-rate goal.

Nebius is growing faster in percentage terms and carries less financial risk. CoreWeave generates more absolute revenue and has secured a larger backlog, but its debt load leaves less margin for error should the AI infrastructure buildout hit any speed bumps.