On Monday, shares of Nebius Group, a company based in Amsterdam, experienced a significant decline of 26% during its initial trading session since February 2022. This development occurred subsequent to the launch of its Nasdaq listing, which was previously associated with Yandex, an entity often referred to as "Russia's Google."
Trading had been halted after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during which the stock was traded under Yandex's ticker via its Amsterdam parent company. In July, Nebius was established as part of a $5.4 billion agreement to separate Yandex's Russian and international operations.
The stock, which last traded at $18.94 per share in February 2022, had dropped 24.4% to $14.44 per share by 1331 GMT.
Yandex had previously achieved a market capitalization exceeding $30 billion; however, with its revenue-generating segments in online search, advertising, and ride-hailing now operating in Russia, Nebius, which aims to capture a share of the expanding AI cloud market, offers a markedly different investment opportunity.
With a free float of 78.1%, primarily owned by Western investors and funds, significant volatility is anticipated in the initial trading days, according to Denis Buivolov, a personal investor in Nebius and head of research at BCS' venture capital and pre-IPO division.
In an analysis featured on the financial platform Seeking Alpha, Buivolov appraised the company at $4.6 billion, equating to $23 per share, based on the company's strategic plans and comparisons with firms like CoreWeave, Lambda Labs, and Sacra.
Another investor, whose shares were once valued at approximately $200,000, indicated they might purchase additional shares on Monday if the price declines, as those who have written off their investments may be compelled to sell.
Dr. Jan-Oliver Strych, an advisor to his family fund that invested in Nebius, noted that the stock's valuation would be influenced by the positive liquidity shock from heightened AI investor interest against the backdrop of impatient sellers.
Nebius, which focuses on supplying Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) and AI cloud services, is expecting significant growth in these sectors in the years ahead.
The company announced on Friday that it anticipates a revenue increase of three to four times by 2025, projecting figures between $500 million and $700 million. To support this growth, it plans to invest between $600 million and $1.5 billion in capital expenditures aimed at expanding capacity in data centers located in Finland, France, and North America.