AI Infrastructure Trade Cracks as Korean IPO Flops, Nebius Downgraded

The debut of South Korean AI firm Elice fell sharply after pricing, adding to a string of disappointments for AI-linked listings this month. According to reporting on the flop, October has already seen three separate data-center flotations shelved, projects that had been backed by AI heavyweights including Nvidia and Blackstone. The jitters are also showing up in individual stocks. One Seeking Alpha analysis downgraded Nebius, arguing the chip-and-cloud provider is "the next chip to fall" as what it calls an AI infrastructure bubble starts to deflate, while a separate piece argued Nebius could instead benefit by picking up business from a rout in CoreWeave shares. The split views show how contested the sector has become. Rising oil prices are compounding the pressure: Brent crude has pushed above $111 a barrel, raising input costs for the power-hungry data centers at the center of the AI buildout. What remains unresolved is whether the shelved listings reflect a temporary pricing problem for IPOs or a deeper repricing of AI infrastructure demand itself.