IREN's Strategic Pivot to AI Infrastructure Drives Explosive Growth and Stock Rally

Crypto Mining Stock Is Up 400% This Year As It Inks Nvidia Deal

Shares of Iren (IREN), an AI, cloud, and data center company, jumped nearly 15% on August 29 after announcing it had achieved “preferred partner†status with Nvidia. The designation is seen as a significant endorsement, positioning Iren as a key collaborator in Nvidia’s expanding ecosystem for AI and data center solutions. In addition to the partnership news, Iren confirmed it has secured the purchase of up to $168 million worth of Nvidia GPUs, further fueling the company’s stock rally on the same day. The deal underscores a surge in investor confidence as the company gears up to expand its data processing capabilities and capitalize on the booming AI infrastructure market. Market analysts see the partnership and hardware procurement as a sign that Iren is positioning itself for rapid growth in a sector driven by AI adoption, cloud computing, and enterprise data needs. The stock’s impressive move reflects broader investor optimism about Nvidia’s influence over the growth trajectory of AI-focused companies. Betting on Iren’s strategic shift toward AI and cloud services has yielded staggering returns for investors this year. As of now, the company’s stock has risen more than 400% from its lowest point earlier in 2025, making it one of the year's top-performing biotech and tech plays focused on AI infrastructure. The dramatic rally reflects growing confidence in Iren’s belief that its focus on AI-driven data centers will position it at the forefront of the sector’s rapid expansion. Industry analysts see this move as a sign that Iren is aligning itself with Nvidia’s trajectory of dominating AI hardware markets, with investor optimism reflecting expectations of robust revenue growth in the sector. Industry analysts see these moves as validation of Iren’s efforts to deepen its integration into the high-performance computing ecosystem, which could attract new enterprise clients and bolster revenue growth. The company has expanded its GPU fleet to a total of 10,900 Nvidia units, significantly enhancing its AI cloud capacity. This positions Iren as a serious contender among next-generation AI infrastructure providers, potentially fueling investor enthusiasm and a sustained rise in its share price in the near term. Adding to the optimism, Iren reported a record revenue for its fiscal Q4 last week and projected annualized AI cloud revenue to reach up to $250 million by the end of 2025â€"an eye-catching increase from just $26 million earlier this year. “We applaud Iren’s foresight in scaling its GPU business and positioned it well for rapid growth,†JPMorgan analyst Reginald Smith wrote in a note to investors. However, valuation concerns temper the bullish outlook. The stock currently trades at a nearly 12x price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, which is high relative to industry standards.

Bitcoin miner IREN surges 14% on BTC-driven quarter, AI play

Bitcoin miner IREN has posted its best quarter of earnings to date, bringing in $187.3 million last quarter, which contributed to a record $501 million revenue for the fiscal year, sending its stock up nearly 14% in after-hours trading. Quarterly revenue for the month ended June 30 was up 226% year-on-year, helping the company swing back into profitability with $176.9 million in net income, IREN said in a report on Thursday. The surge was driven by growth in its Bitcoin (BTC) mining business, but the company has also made moves to deepen its footprint in the AI space as a new "Preferred Partner" to AI giant Nvidia. IREN shares closed up at nearly 3.1% to $23.04 on Thursday and rose another 13.9% in after-hours following the results, Google Finance data shows. The stock has been steadily climbing this month, repeatedly setting new highs. IREN's AI expansion reflects a broader industry trend, as Bitcoin miners continue to navigate the recent increase in mining difficulty that has driven up energy use and squeezed profit margins -- forcing many of them to adopt more efficient equipment, find cheaper energy sources, or expand into AI. IREN recorded $1 billion in annualized revenue "under current mining economics" and beat industry heavyweight MARA Holdings in BTC mining production in July, mining 728 BTC compared to MARA's 703 BTC. IREN also notched 50 exahashes per second in installed Bitcoin mining capacity, but paused further expansion to focus on AI. IREN increased its GPU count to 1,900 during the quarter, growing 132% year-on-year as it became a "Preferred Partner to Nvidia," enabling more direct access to Nvidia's hardware. IREN makes revenue from its AI business by renting GPU power for machine learning tasks, training large language models and supporting businesses needing high-performance AI computation. IREN plans to spend another $200 million to boost its GPU count to 10,900 in the coming months to reach its target of $200 million to $250 million in annualized AI revenue by December. This would represent an eight-to ten-fold increase in AI revenue compared to what it made between April and June, which brought around $25 million monthly. Over the long term, IREN is looking to install 60,000 of Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs at its British Columbia site in Canada. IREN's strong performance of late comes about a year after short-selling firm Culper Research said IREN was "wildly overvalued" and criticized the company for talking "big game" about high-performance computing without investing enough to compete seriously in AI. Related: Jack Dorsey's Block targets 10-year lifecycle for Bitcoin mining rigs Culper compared IREN's efforts to competing to win the Monaco Grand Prix, but arriving at the track in a Toyota Prius. Since then, IREN shares fell from $12.31 to as low as $5.59 in April, but have rallied 312.2% in the past four months. Meanwhile, IREN recently reached a confidential settlement with creditor NYDIG, wrapping up a nearly three-year legal battle over $105 million in defaulted equipment loans tied to around 35,000 Antminer S19s.

Analysts Highlight IREN's Cloud Services As Long-Term Engine Behind Continued Stock Rally - IREN (NASDAQ:IREN)

IREN Limited IREN extended its rally on Friday, continuing the momentum from the previous day. The company delivered record fiscal 2025 results that topped Wall Street estimates and unveiled a $168 million GPU expansion to accelerate its AI cloud push. The company's revenue more than doubled year-over-year to $501 million, net income swung to $86.9 million from a prior-year loss, and adjusted EBITDA surged more than tenfold to $269.7 million. The results underscored IREN's rapid evolution from a pure-play Bitcoin miner into a diversified AI infrastructure provider. Analysts See Cloud Services As Key Growth Driver JP Morgan analyst Reginald L. Smith said the latest quarter showcased record revenue and operating profit, primarily powered by Bitcoin mining, but emphasized that the real story lies in IREN's fast-growing Cloud Services division. Management has earmarked about $500 million in near-term capital expenditures to secure more than 9,000 additional NVIDIA GPUs, which will lift its fleet to roughly 10,900 units by the end of 2025. That scale-up is expected to drive annualized Cloud Services revenue of $200 million to $250 million by year-end 2025, compared with just $26 million today. Related: IREN Stock Rallies After Strong Q4 Earnings Beat, NVIDIA Preferred Partner Status Smith noted that IREN disclosed fresh purchases of 2,400 Blackwell GPUs for $168 million, adding to its earlier 4,200-unit order, cementing its position as a serious AI infrastructure player. Most of these systems will be deployed at the company's 50 MW Prince George facility in British Columbia, while future rollouts may utilize its upcoming 50 MW Horizon 1 data center in Texas. Preparations are also underway for Horizon 2, a 50 MW liquid-cooled site in Childress. Solid Balance Sheet and Financing Strategy Financially, IREN ended June with $564 million in cash and has financing agreements covering about 40% of its GPU investments. Management expects to fund the balance through existing liquidity and quarterly operating cash flow, which reached $90 million in the period. Smith pointed to a record cash operating profit of $89 million, with a 47% margin, although slightly below JP Morgan's forecast due to higher SG&A expenses associated with hiring for Cloud Services. Price Target Raised Adding to the bullish outlook, Canaccord Genuity analyst Joseph Vafi reiterated a Buy rating on IREN and lifted the price forecast from $23 to $37. Price Action: As of the last check on Friday, IREN shares were trading 16.3% higher at $26.67. Read Next: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Decline Again, And 'Clocked Out Early' Photo: Shutterstock IRENIREN Ltd$27.1217.7%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum97.76GrowthN/AQualityN/AValue50.23Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

IREN Stock Rallies After Strong Q4 Earnings Beat - IREN (NASDAQ:IREN)

IREN Limited IREN released its fourth-quarter results after Thursday's closing bell. Here's a look at the key figures from the quarter. IREN is poised for a potential breakout. See the trading setup here. The Details: Iren reported quarterly earnings of 66 cents per share, which beat the consensus estimate of 14 cents. Quarterly revenue clocked in at $187.3 million, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $186.53 million and is up from revenue of $52.76 million from the same period last year. Read Next: CoreWeave Stock Surges As Nvidia's AI Revenue Fires Up The company announced it has achieved NVIDIA Corp. NVDA Preferred Partner status. Iren reported the following highlights from the fourth quarter: Approaching $1.25 billion total annualized revenue with scope for further growth ahead >$1 billion annualized revenue from Bitcoin mining under current mining economics $200-$250 million annualized revenue from AI Cloud at 10.9k NVIDIA GPUs by December 2025 Capacity to deploy >60,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs across existing British Columbia data centers, and >19,000 GB300s at Horizon 1 Secured a second round of GPU financing for 100% of hardware purchase price, with further financing workstreams underway "FY25 was a breakout year financially and operationally, with record results that included strong net income and more than 10x EBITDA growth," said Daniel Roberts, Co-CEO of IREN. "We expanded our contracted, grid-connected power to nearly 3GW, more than tripled operating data center capacity to 810MW, and completed our 50 EH/s expansion - all while laying the foundation for rapid growth in our AI Cloud business to more than 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs," Roberts added. IREN Stock Price: According to data from Benzinga Pro, IREN stock was up 7.94% at $24.87 in Thursday's extended trading. Read Next: Could Trump Target A Stake In UnitedHealth Next? Maybe ... Here's Why Photo: Shutterstock IRENIREN Ltd$24.9111.4%Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Unlock RankingsEdge RankingsMomentum97.66GrowthN/AQualityN/AValue49.64Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewNVDANVIDIA Corp$179.72-1.04%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Is Iren Limited Stock Still a Buy? | The Motley Fool

This data center operator has surged 221% in the past six months by pivoting from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure -- but the best may be yet to come. Iren Limited (IREN 14.93%) has emerged as one of the most explosive growth stories of 2025, with shares surging 221% over the past six months and 68% in just the last 30 days. The company's $7.2 billion market cap might seem stretched for a business primarily known for Bitcoin mining just a year ago. But Iren's aggressive pivot to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure has transformed it into something far more valuable: a picks-and-shovels play on the AI gold rush. Here's why the stock still scans as a bargain, despite its massive rally. Iren's fiscal 2025 results tell the story of a company in rapid metamorphosis. Revenue exploded to $501 million, up 168% year-over-year, while net income reached $86.9 million -- a stunning reversal from the $28.9 million loss in FY24. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) soared 395% to $269.7 million. These aren't the numbers of a struggling Bitcoin miner; they're the metrics of a company capturing explosive demand for AI computing power. The real story lies in Iren's AI cloud expansion. The company currently operates 1,900 NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs), up 132% from last year, with plans to reach 10,900 GPUs by December 2025. This fleet includes 800 H100s, 1,100 H200s, 5,400 B200s, and 1,200 B300s -- the cutting-edge Blackwell architecture that Nvidia positions as the future of AI training. With GPU utilization running at or near 100% and hardware profit margins in the high 90s, Iren is essentially generating significant profits from the AI boom. What sets Iren apart is its vertical integration and cost structure. The company operates data centers with power costs averaging just $0.033 per kilowatt-hour -- among the lowest globally. Its secured NVIDIA Preferred Partner status guarantees GPU allocation in a supply constrained market. Most impressively, Iren has arranged non-dilutive financing covering 100% of GPU hardware costs through 36-month leases, allowing rapid expansion without equity dilution. Iren isn't just renting GPUs -- it's building critical AI infrastructure. Operating data center capacity tripled to 810 megawatts in FY25, with contracted grid-connected power reaching 2,910 megawatts. Its liquid-cooled facilities can support over 60,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs across existing sites. The Sweetwater 2 project in West Texas -- a 600-megawatt facility expandable to 2 gigawatts -- will create one of North America's largest AI computing hubs by 2027. Combined with the 75-megawatt Horizon 1 data center launching late 2025, Iren is positioning itself as essential infrastructure for enterprise AI deployment. The dual revenue model balances stability with growth. Bitcoin mining generates a steady cash flow at $41,000 per Bitcoin, while AI cloud services drive the future. Management projects $200 million to $250 million in annual AI cloud revenue once the 10,900 GPU deployment is complete. Despite the massive rally, Iren's valuation remains surprisingly reasonable. The stock trades at 31 times forward earnings -- still modest for an AI-forward company with triple-digit growth rates. Wall Street projects revenue will reach $515 million this year (up 173%) and approach $960 million next year (up another 86%). The risks are real but manageable. Cryptocurrency volatility could impact Bitcoin mining revenue, though this business is increasingly secondary to AI growth. Competition for data center capacity is intensifying, GPU supply constraints could limit growth, and the technical setup shows the stock consolidating near all-time highs after its parabolic move. Yet Iren's combination of renewable energy assets, low-cost power, existing infrastructure, and secured GPU allocations creates significant competitive moats. For growth investors comfortable with volatility, Iren offers a unique way to play the AI infrastructure boom without paying nosebleed multiples.

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IREN Limited, formerly Iris Energy Limited, is an Australia-based company, which owns and operates data centers powered by 100% renewable energy. Its facilities are optimized for Bitcoin mining, artificial intelligence (AI) cloud services, and other power-dense compute. Its data center mining facilities are in Canal Flats, Mackenzie, Prince George and Childress. Bitcoin Mining provides security to the Bitcoin network. Al Cloud Services provides cloud compute to Al customers, 1,896 NVIDIA H100 and H200 GPUs. Its Canal Flats facility is in the Canadian Rockies, 100 kilometers (km) from Cranbrook regional airport and 500km east of Vancouver. Its facility is in Prince George, the city in northern British Columbia, located 500 km north of Vancouver. Its facility is located in Childress County, Texas, over 250 miles northwest of Dallas and in close proximity to multiple wind and solar generating facilities in the region. Its Childress operations comprise 200MW of operating data centers.