BNP Paribas released a research note assessing the fast-growing AI cloud infrastructure market, even as shares in both CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) and Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) fell sharply on Thursday.
CoreWeave shares dropped approximately 4% on the day, while Nebius declined by a steeper 6% during the same session.
The BNP Paribas note acknowledged improving demand trends across the AI infrastructure space but raised pointed questions about how providers will sustain returns as the market continues to evolve.
The bank noted that strong near-term pricing remains intact, with investors shifting their attention toward the industry’s longer-term profitability prospects.
BNP Paribas pointed to recent AI infrastructure agreements involving SpaceX with Anthropic and Google as evidence that pricing for AI compute capacity remains favorable across the sector.
The firm also noted that demand for graphics processing unit capacity continues to exceed available supply, a dynamic supported by recent GPU reservation price increases introduced by Amazon Web Services.
On Nebius, BNP Paribas said the company may benefit as enterprises increasingly seek lower-cost, open-source AI models rather than premium frontier models from larger providers.
Despite that constructive long-term outlook, the bank maintained a Neutral rating on Nebius, citing the stock’s strong rally already recorded in 2026 as a reason for caution.
For CoreWeave, BNP Paribas acknowledged that expanding capacity is temporarily obscuring underlying profitability, but noted that execution has improved during the second half of 2026.
The firm said newer CoreWeave contracts are being priced to offset higher component costs while preserving margins, adding that the company’s growing infrastructure base could help stabilize profitability over time.
BNP Paribas concluded that CoreWeave’s current risk-reward profile remains attractive, offering a more optimistic long-term read on the stock despite the day’s sharp decline.
