IREN’s 500% Rally: How a Bitcoin Miner Became an AI Cloud Juggernaut

13 October 2025

Stock Surge: IREN (NASDAQ: IREN) stock has exploded this year, up roughly +460–500% from a year ago ^[1]. It closed around $63–64 on Oct 10, 2025 (market cap ~$16.3B) ^[2], near its 52-week high of $70.05 ^[3].
AI Pivot & GPU Buildout: In late Sept 2025, IREN (formerly Iris Energy) announced a $674M GPU purchase (12,400 units), doubling its AI compute fleet to ~23,000 GPUs ^[4] ^[5]. This blitz of Nvidia/AMD accelerators aims to generate >$500M annual AI-cloud revenue by early 2026 ^[6] ^[7].
New AI Contracts: On Oct 7, IREN revealed multi-year GPU-cloud contracts (with leading AI firms) covering 11,000 GPUs, representing roughly $225M of annualized recurring revenue (ARR) to start by end-2025 ^[8] ^[9]. Coindesk noted the deal sent IREN shares up ~9% to $63 that day ^[10].
Convertible Debt Raise: Also on Oct 7–9, IREN priced an $875M convertible note offering (0.00% coupon, due 2031) with an $85.63 conversion price (42.5% premium to pre-offer stock price) ^[11] ^[12]. After fees it nets about $856.5M for AI/data-center expansion ^[13]. The deal includes capped calls (cap ~$120/share) to limit dilution ^[14] ^[15].
CEO Quotes: Co-founder/Co-CEO Daniel Roberts emphasizes the transformation: “Our ability to rapidly transition from ASICs to GPUs…and the speed of building new data centers shows IREN is uniquely positioned to meet accelerating demand for AI compute,” he said in October 2025 ^[16]. The Block also cited Roberts: “Rapidly transition from ASICs to GPUs…demonstrates how IREN is uniquely positioned” for AI demand ^[17].
Bitcoin Tailwind: Bitcoin’s price has surged (recently ~$120K+, an 18-month high) ^[18] ^[19], benefiting miners like IREN. IREN’s all-in power cost is only ~$0.038/kWh (100% renewable energy) ^[20] ^[21], implying very high crypto profit margins (~70–75% at current BTC prices).
Peers & Sector: Other miners jumped too. On Oct 7, Bitfarms gained ~12% and Hive Digital +10% as part of the broader AI/HPC rally ^[22] ^[23]. TipRanks noted Bernstein research calling IREN (with peers) “AI infrastructure winners” ^[24]. However, analysts warn of a pullback: IREN’s RSI is deep in overbought territory (around 80) ^[25] ^[26], and the average 1-year price target (~$47.7) is ~17% below current levels ^[27].

IREN’s AI-Cloud Strategy

IREN started as Iris Energy, a clean-energy Bitcoin miner, but is now aggressively pivoting to AI data centers. It owns hydro- and wind-powered sites in Canada and Texas, giving it some of the industry’s lowest power costs (~$0.03–$0.038/kWh) ^[28] ^[29]. Management has redeployed idle mining capacity into AI compute. In August 2025 IREN was named an “NVIDIA Preferred Partner,” granting it privileged access to high-end GPUs ^[30]. The late-September GPU order added 7,100 Nvidia Blackwell B300s, 4,200 Nvidia Blackwell B200s and 1,100 AMD MI350X cards ^[31]. This brings the fleet to ~23,000 units (including the existing ~1,900 Nvidia H100/H200s) ^[32].

Coindesk reported IREN plans to have these GPUs online by early 2026, aiming for $500M+ in annual AI-cloud revenue ^[33]. Indeed, IREN said its expanded cloud capacity is “on track to reach half a billion dollars in annualized run-rate revenues” ^[34]. As TS2 Tech summarizes: the GPU purchases and new contracts establish a hybrid model where IREN can switch sites between Bitcoin hashing and cloud workloads. One analyst quipped that with 2.91 GW of power, IREN “has access to increasingly scarce GPU supply…positioning it to ride the AI wave” ^[35]. Even Motley Fool analysts note IREN as a top example of a miner building an “AI neocloud” service ^[36].

Recent Stock Surge & News Flow

Investors have taken notice. IREN stock first broke out in summer 2025 on strong crypto prices and initial GPU deals, but exploded in early October. TS2 Tech notes that on Oct 3 the stock closed a new high of $49.44 ^[37], and briefly spiked ~5% pre-market Oct 6 to ~$53 ^[38]. By mid-October shares were near $64 ^[39]. Trading volumes have been extraordinarily high (e.g. 16+ million shares on Oct 3 ^[40]), reflecting frenzied demand.

Key catalysts in the first week of Oct 2025 included:

Oct 6–7 GPU deal announcement: The 12.4k GPU order (Sept 22 announcement) and Oct 7 news of multi-year AI cloud contracts covering 11,000 GPUs lifted the stock sharply ^[41] ^[42]. IREN said these contracts (with AI firms) will start generating ~$225M ARR by end-2025 ^[43] ^[44]. The deal coverage (~50% of the GPU fleet) validated the pivot; as TipRanks notes, it “indicat[es] strong demand” for IREN’s GPU cloud ^[45].
Oct 7–9 Convertible debt: IREN announced and priced its $875M convertible notes offering ^[46] ^[47]. This was well-timed after the share rally. Although the stock dipped slightly on Oct 8 (some profit-taking), this financing will fund the expansion. The 0.00% notes carry a $85.63 conversion price (42.5% premium) and a capped call at $120 (100% premium) ^[48] ^[49], effectively giving a dilution “cap” at $120. At settlement on Oct 14, IREN will get roughly $856.5M net ^[50].
Media Buzz & Momentum: Media coverage has been very bullish. CoinDesk highlighted IREN’s new deals and 9% stock jump Oct 7 ^[51], The Block/Bitget detailed the cloud push ^[52] ^[53], and TS2/SeekingAlpha headlines proclaim “IREN’s Rally Isn’t Over” ^[54]. Institutional interest has also risen – for example, TS2 notes Louisiana Congressman Cleo Fields bought IREN near $17 in July and is now up ~+260% ^[55].
Peer Performance: The move in IREN reflects a broader trend. On Oct 7, Bitfarms (BITF) rallied ~12% and Hive Digital ~10% ^[56]. These miners likewise reported AI/cloud deals (e.g. Bitfarms unveiled new GPU-hosting capacity and Hive landed similar contracts). TipRanks cites Bernstein research dubbing IREN, Bitfarms, TeraWulf, etc. “unexpected winners in the AI infrastructure arms race” ^[57].

Even so, not all momentum is positive. MarketBeat (Nasdaq) flagged IREN as “overheating” – its RSI has hit ~82 (well into overbought) and its analysts’ average target (~$47.73) implies a ~17% pullback from current levels ^[58] ^[59]. TS2 notes that the stock has already climbed +180% in 3 months ^[60], and some traders expect a breather. In fact, after the Oct 7–9 news, shares briefly dipped in after-hours trading (profit-taking, a JPM downgrade, etc.), though as of Oct 10 they remain near all-time highs ^[61].

Analyst Views & Forecasts

Wall Street opinions on IREN are mixed. Many analysts are bullish on the AI pivot: recent updates led firms to raise targets. For example, after the GPU news Compass Point upped its price target to $50, Bernstein (SocGen) to $75, and Roth to $82 ^[62]. TipRanks notes that, despite a “Moderate Buy” consensus, targets range widely and imply downside from current levels ^[63] ^[64]. By contrast, JPMorgan is skeptical: it put IREN at Underweight, with a $24 fair-value (arguing today’s price “might already account for future expectations” given needed capital spending) ^[65] ^[66].

Other factors: IREN reported huge 2025 earnings (FY2025 revenue $501M, +168% YoY ^[67]) driven by both mining and the nascent AI business. Yet the AI segment is still very small (~$16M in FY2025) compared to targets ^[68]. The company has guided for $200–250M AI-ARR by end-2025 ^[69] and >$500M by Q1 2026 ^[70], implying roughly 10× growth. If achieved, IREN’s valuation could look cheap; but missed execution on GPU deployment or contracts could hurt sharply.

Outlook

In sum, IREN’s story combines two of 2025’s hottest themes: cryptocurrency and AI compute. Its stock rally reflects investor enthusiasm for this dual-leverage. The company claims deep competitive advantages (vast renewable power, Nvidia partnership, flexible ASIC/GPU infrastructure). As one analyst noted, “IREN has access to increasingly scarce GPU supply, likely afforded by its [gigawatts of] power” ^[71]. However, high expectations are baked in. MarketBeat cautions that waiting for a pullback (toward the $50 level) might offer a better entry ^[72].

Looking ahead, all eyes will be on execution: getting 23,000 GPUs online, filling their capacity with contracts, and proving the AI cloud can scale. The new convertible notes provide capital without immediate dilution, but if IREN’s shares double again (to ~$120) investors could see dilution or cash conversion. For now, analysts have widely varying forecasts – from $24 to the $80s – reflecting the uncertainty. As IREN co-CEO Roberts put it, the company is “uniquely positioned” for AI demand ^[73], but whether the stock can climb further or cool off remains to be seen.

Sources: Latest filings and press releases ^[74] ^[75]; Tech stock research (TS2.tech) ^[76] ^[77]; CoinDesk/Block press coverage ^[78] ^[79]; Market data sites ^[80] ^[81]; analyst reports and news articles ^[82] ^[83]. Each sourced statistic and quote is cited.

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Mateusz Kaczmarek Latest posts

A technology and finance expert writing for TS2.tech. He analyzes developments in satellites, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence, with a focus on their impact on global markets. Author of industry reports and market commentary, often cited in tech and business media. Passionate about innovation and the digital economy.

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