Two AI Infrastructure Players That Could Crush the Market in 2026

CoreWeave and Nebius Group are on fire right now, and we’re only a few months into 2026. Both stocks are up significantly—CoreWeave up 25% and Nebius up 17% so far this year. But here’s the thing: plenty of investors think the run is over. We’d argue the opposite. Both companies have substantial room to run and could genuinely double before 2026 wraps up. These two are crushing the AI infrastructure space, and 2026 could be the year that proves why.

Why These AI Infrastructure Companies Are Crushing Demand

CoreWeave and Nebius aren’t building widgets—they’re building the computational backbone for AI. Both operate massive data centers optimized specifically for AI workloads. The business model is straightforward: acquire cutting-edge AI chips, build the infrastructure, and rent capacity to clients at margins that cover costs and then some.

It sounds simple, but the demand is absolutely extraordinary. The hyperscalers—the mega tech companies driving AI development—are willing to pay premium rates to access this capacity. In other words, the market is crushing these companies with orders.

Nebius ended 2025 with an annual run rate of $1.25 billion. For 2026, management expects that to skyrocket to $7 billion to $9 billion. That’s possible because they’re expanding from just two active data centers at the end of 2024 to seven by end of 2025, with nine more expected to come online during 2026. That’s massive expansion.

CoreWeave is in a similar trajectory. During Q3 2025, quarterly revenue hit $1.37 billion, representing 134% growth year-over-year. But that’s not even the most impressive part. CoreWeave currently has a backlog of $55.6 billion in committed revenue. About 40% of that should convert within the next 24 months. Let that sink in: that’s billions in already-committed growth.

This level of visibility into future revenue is exactly what gets investors excited about doubling potential.

The Infrastructure Play: Why This Model Works

Both companies are essentially replicating the cloud computing playbook that Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, and Google Cloud already proved works. They’re not inventing anything revolutionary—they’re just applying proven infrastructure economics to the AI boom.

The demand signal is real. Enterprise customers, researchers, and AI companies need access to specialized hardware they can’t justify building themselves. CoreWeave and Nebius are filling that gap. And because the AI infrastructure space is still in its growth phase, there’s room for multiple winners.

The willingness of hyperscalers to lock in multi-year commitments (as shown by that massive CoreWeave backlog) suggests the market believes this demand is structural, not cyclical.

The Profitability Question Holding Some Back

Here’s where reality hits: neither CoreWeave nor Nebius is profitable yet. Both are burning significant capital to build out their footprints. This is the main pushback investors use to avoid these stocks.

But let’s add context. When companies are rapidly scaling in a new market, profitability is often a secondary concern. The priority is capturing market share and building infrastructure faster than competitors. CoreWeave is actually closer to breakeven than you might think.

For Nebius, the expansion is so rapid to meet demand that investors shouldn’t obsess over near-term margins. What matters is the trajectory. If Nebius shows meaningful progress toward profitability during 2026, expect the market to reward it. Same logic applies to CoreWeave.

Once the build-out phase ends—once these companies have enough data centers deployed—the economics shift dramatically. They’ll stop building expensive new facilities and start optimizing existing ones. That’s when the margin expansion happens. That’s when these stocks could really move.

Why 2026 Could Be the Breakout Year

The pieces are aligned for both companies to see exceptional demand throughout 2026. AI computing capacity remains constrained. Customers are willing to pay what it takes to access it. Revenue backlogs are fat. Growth rates are explosive.

Will they double? No guarantees. But the fundamentals suggest both CoreWeave and Nebius have the growth velocity to crush market expectations this year. Even if they fall short of an actual double, both should meaningfully outperform the broader market.

The best time to crush gains on emerging infrastructure plays is before the market fully prices in their scale potential. We might already be there.