Why is Nebius stock rising today?

Nebius Group NBIS shares moved 4% higher on Tuesday after the artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure company completed its acquisition of Eigen AI and received confirmation that it will join the Nasdaq-100 Index later this month.

The Amsterdam-based company finalized the acquisition of Eigen AI on June 10, approximately six weeks after initially announcing the transaction on May 1.

The deal closed after the company obtained the required regulatory approvals and satisfied customary closing conditions.

Investors also continued to react to Nebius' upcoming inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 Index, a development that is expected to increase the stock's visibility among institutional investors and index-tracking funds.

Eigen AI acquisition strengthens AI platform

Nebius said the acquisition adds Eigen AI's inference and model optimization capabilities to its existing artificial intelligence cloud platform.

Eigen AI specializes in technologies designed to improve AI model deployment and serving efficiency.

The addition is expected to strengthen Nebius' ability to offer optimized AI infrastructure solutions as enterprise demand for AI computing continues to grow.

The acquisition was officially completed on June 10 following regulatory approval. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The move represents another step in Nebius' effort to build a full-stack AI cloud platform.

Market participants view the acquisition as a strategic addition that expands the company's capabilities in model inference and optimization, areas that have become increasingly important as businesses deploy AI applications at scale.

The acquisition comes as Nebius continues to expand its AI infrastructure footprint through new data center deployments and partnerships.

Recent initiatives include the launch of a physical AI laboratory for robotics startups in collaboration with Nvidia.

Nasdaq-100 inclusion boosts investor interest

Another catalyst supporting the stock is Nebius' upcoming addition to the Nasdaq-100 Index.

The company is scheduled to officially join the benchmark index before the market opens on June 22 as part of Nasdaq's quarterly reconstitution.

Index inclusion is often viewed as a positive development because it can lead to automatic purchases by exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that track the Nasdaq-100.

The announcement has attracted considerable attention across financial markets.

On CNBC, market commentator Jim Cramer described the index addition as a "big deal."

Short-interest data also showed a modest decline in bearish positioning.

Short interest fell from 45.10 million shares to 44.30 million shares during the latest reporting period.

Despite the decrease, approximately 20.73% of Nebius' publicly traded shares remain sold short.

Strong growth supports bullish sentiment

Investor optimism has also been supported by Nebius' recent financial performance.

The company reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $399 million, representing a 684% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Its AI Cloud segment generated $389.7 million in revenue, accounting for approximately 98% of total company sales.

Nebius also reported a quarterly loss of $0.23 per share, significantly better than analysts' consensus estimate of a $0.77 per-share loss.

Several Wall Street firms have raised their price targets following the results.

Citigroup increased its target from $169 to $287 while maintaining a Buy rating.

Morgan Stanley increased its target from $126 to $144 while maintaining an Equal Weight rating.

According to MarketBeat data, the stock currently carries nine Buy ratings and six Hold ratings, with a consensus price target of $203.25.

Technical indicators also reflect the stock's strong momentum.

Nebius is trading nearly 20% above its 20-day moving average and more than 122% above its 200-day moving average, while continuing to trade near its recent 52-week high.