Better Artificial Intelligence Stock: Nebius vs. Super Micro Computer | The Motley Fool

Nebius ( NBIS +4.21%) and Super Micro Computer ( SMCI 0.13%) represent two distinct investment options in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) market. Nebius provides cloud-based AI infrastructure services to companies with don't want to upgrade their on-premise servers. Super Micro Computer, more commonly known as Supermicro, builds those dedicated AI servers. Both of these stocks are volatile, but which one is the better long-term play on the AI market ? Let's compare their business models, growth rates, and valuations to determine the differences. Image source: Getty Images. The differences between Nebius and Supermicro Nebius was once known as Yandex, which owned Russia's top search engine and a broad range of related websites and applications. The sanctions against Russia forced it to suspend its shares in early 2022, so it relocated its business to Amsterdam, spun off its Russian assets, and rebranded itself as Nebius -- a pure play provider of cloud-based AI infrastructure services. Nebius now operates one first-party data center in Finland and leases additional data centers through colocation deals in the U.S., France, and Iceland. It's currently building its second first-party data center in New Jersey, and it recently signed another colocation deal in the UK. It promotes itself as a "full-stack" AI infrastructure company that integrates managed software services into its data centers while providing customized AI services for the data training, edtech, and robotics markets. That sets it apart from other cloud-based GPU providers, such as CoreWeave ( CRWV +2.12%), which primarily processes GPU-intensive tasks. NASDAQ: NBIS Key Data Points Supermicro is an underdog in the data center server market compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE +1.10%) and Dell ( DELL +0.15%). Still, it rolled out its own liquid-cooled AI-optimized servers before its larger competitors. Its partnership with Nvidia ( NVDA +1.51%) also granted it access to a steady supply of the chipmaker's top-tier data center GPUs. It controlled about 9% of the dedicated AI server market in 2024, according to ABI Research. Supermicro grew rapidly as the AI market expanded. However, it struggled with a delayed 10-K filing, the abrupt departure of its auditor amid accounting issues, delisting threats, and regulatory probes last year. Those headwinds weighed down its stock, but it eventually hired a new auditor, filed its overdue 10-K, dodged a delisting, and seemingly placated the regulators. However, it's facing tougher competition as HPE and Dell roll out more AI-optimized servers. NASDAQ: SMCI Key Data Points Which company is growing faster? In 2024, Nebius' revenue surged 462% to $118 million, but its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ( EBITDA ) came in at negative $266 million. For 2025, analysts expect its revenue to soar 373% to $556 million as its adjusted EBITDA improves to negative $75 million. It had already sold out of all its available capacity by the end of the third quarter, but it's still racking up steep losses as it expands its infrastructure. Nebius expects to generate an annualized revenue run rate of $7...

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