Nebius' 4-Gigawatt Power Play: Fuel Cells, Price Hikes, and a $122 Million Insider Sell-Off

Nebius rallies 14% on $2.6B Bloom Energy deal for fuel-cell-powered data centers, raises capacity targets, and reports 684% revenue surge, but $122.5M insider sales add caution.

Nebius is charging hard into the AI infrastructure race, but recent insider stock sales are raising eyebrows even as the company doubles down on energy independence and capacity. The shares hit $220.76 on Wednesday, rallying 14% after the company announced a clutch of strategic moves that go well beyond another strong earnings beat.

At the heart of the story is a fundamental shift in how Nebius secures electricity for its AI clouds. The company inked a decade-long partnership with Bloom Energy worth up to $2.6 billion in service fees, deploying solid-oxide fuel cells at its data centers instead of relying on gas turbines or diesel generators. The first site, in Independence, Missouri, is slated to deliver 328 megawatts of installed capacity by 2026. The "behind-the-meter" structure means Nebius can bypass congested utility grids and bring new compute capacity online faster — all while keeping upfront capital costs low through an operating expense model.

That energy flexibility is critical because Nebius just raised its guidance for contractually secured power capacity this year from 3 gigawatts to more than 4 gigawatts. By the end of 2026, the target stands at least 4 gigawatts, up from a previous goal of more than 3.5 gigawatts. To support that pace, management plans capital expenditures of $20 billion to $25 billion next year.

The infrastructure push comes on the heels of explosive growth. First-quarter revenue hit $399 million, a 684% surge from a year earlier. The AI cloud unit alone generated $389.7 million, up 841%, and boasted an EBITDA margin of 45%. For the full year, Nebius is aiming for annual recurring revenue of $7 billion to $9 billion, while total 2026 revenue guidance sits at $3.0 billion to $3.4 billion.

Pricing power is also entering the narrative. Unconfirmed reports suggest Nebius will hike GPU-on-demand tariffs by 29% on June 1, with preemptible resources climbing as much as 51%. The increases would affect Nvidia's H100, H200, and B200 chips — a sign that demand for high-end compute continues to outstrip supply.

Wall Street has taken notice. Citigroup raised its price target to $287, the highest among analysts, and reaffirmed a "Buy" rating. The broader consensus lands near $218 with a "Moderate Buy" recommendation. Since late April, when the stock was trading around $130, the shares have gained nearly 60%, and they are up roughly 129.2% year to date. Adjusted losses narrowed to $0.33 per share in the first quarter.

Yet not everyone is leaning in. Insiders have sold about $122.5 million worth of stock over the past three months. Most recently, the chief revenue officer and a director together offloaded nearly 15,400 shares at prices between $206.87 and $217.55. The selling doesn't necessarily signal a loss of faith, but it adds a note of caution to an otherwise euphoric growth narrative.

The real test lies ahead. Nebius still needs to ramp operations in Finland and North America, and the market will be watching closely to see whether those new megawatts translate quickly into paying workloads. For now, the company is being revalued not just as a fast-growing cloud play, but as a full-fledged AI infrastructure platform with a novel answer to the industry's most pressing bottleneck: power.