NBIS Stock Dips Premarket: Nebius Clears Hurdle For Microsoft Deal As Vineland Approves Data Center Expansion

• Vineland’s Planning Board approved Phase 2, adding 600,000 square feet to Nebius’ AI data center and clearing a key project hurdle.
• The approval removes a major execution risk for Nebius’ $17.4 billion Microsoft cloud deal, which relies on capacity from the facility.
• NBIS dipped 2% premarket but remained a top trending stock on Stocktwits.

Nebius stock declined 2% in early premarket trading Tuesday amid market volatility linked to renewed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. But traders were focused on a key update that clears the way for one of the company’s most important cloud deals.

The Vineland Planning Board voted to approve Phase 2 of the data center already under construction in the South Jersey town on Monday night, NBC10 Philadelphia reported. Phase 1 is already under construction, and Phase 2 will add 600,000 square feet to the project.

Nebius’ Vineland, New Jersey, data center is being developed by DataOne as a major AI infrastructure campus. The project was initially approved as a roughly 300-megawatt facility, with DataOne later proposing a larger build-out that could reach 350 MW. 

The expansion stalled over amendments. Vineland’s Planning Board held up its approval amid public pushback over noise, water use, emissions, LNG storage, and the project's scale.

The site is strategically important for Nebius because it is expected to provide capacity for its multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft. The companies agreed last year on a five-year contract initially worth $17.4 billion, making Vineland a key part of Nebius’ plan to rapidly expand its AI capacity in the U.S.

The latest approval removes one of the biggest execution risks to the Microsoft contract. A prolonged delay would have affected Nebius’ ability to bring capacity online for Microsoft on schedule.

Retail View On NBIS

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for NBIS dipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish. “$NBIS This is going to rip higher today. Watch,” a trader said.

Nebius Group was among the top trending stocks on Stocktwits at various points on Tuesday, as investors digested its upbeat quarterly report and a wave of analyst price-target increases that helped fuel its best weekly rally since December 2024 last week.

Nebius Q2 Recap

Nebius posted $582 million in revenue, up 454% from the prior year and comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s call for $570 million, according to results issued last Wednesday. Revenue tied to the company’s core AI cloud business increased sixfold to $575 million.

The company reported a loss of $0.68 per share in Q2, compared to earnings per share (EPS) of $2.05 during the same period a year ago.

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