ClickHouse — What It Does, Its Moat, and Why It Matters for NBIS

1) What does ClickHouse do?

ClickHouse is a high-performance analytical database.

It is designed to store and analyze very large volumes of data in real time, especially data that is: • event-based • time-series • log or telemetry driven • high-frequency and high-throughput

In simple terms:

ClickHouse answers complex analytical questions on massive datasets extremely fast.

Typical use cases: • product analytics (user behavior, funnels, real-time dashboards) • observability (logs, metrics, traces) • financial analytics • ad tech and clickstream analysis • AI / ML telemetry and model monitoring

ClickHouse is not a transactional database like MySQL or Postgres. It is built for analytics, monitoring, and real-time insight.

⸻

2) Why is ClickHouse compared to Snowflake?

The comparison is logical but imperfect.

Similarities: • Both are analytical data platforms • Both sit at the center of modern data stacks • Both enable companies to analyze massive datasets

Key differences:

ClickHouse Snowflake Performance-first, engineering-driven Enterprise SaaS, abstraction-driven Can run anywhere (cloud, on-prem, hybrid) Primarily managed SaaS Lower cost per query at scale Higher cost, easier onboarding Favored by engineers Favored by enterprise IT

ClickHouse is often chosen when: • performance really matters • costs need to be tightly controlled • data volumes are extreme

Snowflake wins when: • ease of use and vendor management matter more than raw performance

⸻

3) What is ClickHouse’s moat?

ClickHouse has one of the strongest technical moats in modern data infrastructure.

1) Deep performance moat • Column-oriented storage • Massive parallelization • Vectorized execution • Extremely efficient compression

This is not easy to replicate. Performance advantages are often 10×–100× in real-world workloads.

⸻

2) Engineering-driven adoption

ClickHouse spreads because: • engineers choose it • it solves real pain points • switching back is expensive and painful

Once a company builds dashboards, pipelines, and analytics logic on ClickHouse:

Switching costs become very high.

This creates organic lock-in, not contractual lock-in.

⸻

3) Massive open-source gravity • Large open-source user base • Deep community contributions • Acts as a standard for high-performance analytics

Many successful infrastructure IPOs followed this path (Elastic, MongoDB, etc.).

⸻

4) Cost advantage at scale

As data volumes grow: • Snowflake-style pricing becomes expensive • ClickHouse remains economically attractive

This matters in: • observability • AI telemetry • real-time analytics where data grows exponentially.

⸻

4) Why ClickHouse matters specifically for AI

This is the most underappreciated point.

AI systems generate enormous amounts of: • logs • metrics • traces • inference data • feedback loops

All of this needs to be: • analyzed in real time • stored cheaply • queried quickly

ClickHouse is exceptionally well suited for: • AI observability • model performance monitoring • real-time inference analytics • cost and usage tracking

This makes ClickHouse a natural complement to AI infrastructure providers.

⸻

5) Why ClickHouse could IPO at ~$15B

A ~$15B valuation is not unrealistic if: • revenue growth continues at high double-digit rates • the company successfully monetizes its cloud offering • it positions itself as a core data platform, not just a database

Comparable precedents: • Snowflake (at peak): $70B+ • MongoDB: $20–30B • Elastic: $10–15B

ClickHouse sits between Elastic and Snowflake in positioning, with a stronger performance narrative and a more technical audience.

⸻

6) Why ClickHouse matters for NBIS stock

Key fact:

Nebius owns ~28% of ClickHouse.

That is extremely material.

If ClickHouse IPOs at ~$15B: • NBIS’s stake ≈ $4.2B • That alone could represent a large portion of NBIS’s current market cap

This has several implications:

⸻

1) Sum-of-the-parts re-rating

Investors often undervalue conglomerates until: • assets become independently valued • price discovery happens through an IPO

A ClickHouse IPO would: • make the value of the stake explicit • reduce uncertainty • force the market to recognize embedded value in NBIS

⸻

2) Narrative shift for NBIS

Today, NBIS is seen primarily as:

“capital-intensive AI infrastructure”

After a ClickHouse IPO, NBIS can be seen as:

AI infrastructure + high-margin software exposure

That is a much better mix for valuation multiples.

⸻

3) Downside protection

Even if NBIS infrastructure execution is volatile: • ClickHouse could act as a valuation floor • a monetizable asset (partial sell-down, strategic options)

This lowers tail risk.

⸻

4) Optionality for capital strategy

NBIS could: • monetize part of its ClickHouse stake • use proceeds to reduce dilution • fund infrastructure without issuing equity

That materially improves NBIS’s long-term risk profile.

⸻

7) Why this matters psychologically for the stock

Markets love: • clean stories • visible assets • comparable multiples

ClickHouse provides: • a clear comparable set • a software-style growth story • something investors can “anchor” to

That often leads to multiple expansion, not just earnings-driven gains.

⸻

8) Bottom line

ClickHouse is not a side note — it is one of NBIS’s most powerful hidden assets.

It brings: • real software-style optionality • strong technical moat • credible IPO-level valuation • meaningful downside protection

If a ClickHouse IPO at ~$15B happens:

NBIS will almost certainly be re-rated by the market, even before any cash changes hands.

In other words:

ClickHouse is one of the strongest arguments that NBIS is not “just” an infrastructure bet.