New York, Jan 5, 2026, 18:38 EST — After-hours
- IREN shares were up about 13% from the prior close in late U.S. trading on Monday.
- Bitcoin rose nearly 3%, lifting crypto miners across the board.
- Focus is shifting back to IREN’s AI cloud buildout and the next earnings window in mid-February.
IREN Limited (IREN.O) shares climbed about 13% on Monday and were last trading around $48.24 in late U.S. dealings, outpacing most crypto-linked peers.
The move matters because IREN has become a high-beta proxy for two volatile themes at once: bitcoin mining and the buildout of artificial-intelligence data centers. When bitcoin jumps and enthusiasm returns to AI infrastructure, the stock tends to react sharply.
The rally also comes as investors scrutinize which miners can fund expansion without diluting shareholders, and which AI “power-to-compute” operators can secure chips and grid capacity fast enough to meet demand. IREN runs data centers powered by renewable energy and says its facilities are optimized for both bitcoin mining and AI cloud services. 1
Bitcoin was up about 2.9% at roughly $93,904. Crypto miners followed, with Marathon Digital (MARA.O) up about 7% and Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) up about 4%, based on late trading prices.
A research note published on Monday by Zacks highlighted IREN’s push into AI cloud, saying the company aims to scale its GPU fleet to about 140,000 units by the end of 2026 and targets $3.4 billion in AI cloud annualized run-rate revenue. GPUs, or graphics processing units, are chips widely used to train and run AI models; “run-rate” is a snapshot of revenue pace based on current deployments and contracts. 2
IREN’s AI story accelerated in November, when the company announced a multi-year agreement with Microsoft valued at about $9.7 billion to deliver GPU cloud infrastructure powered by Nvidia GB300 processors at its Childress, Texas campus, with deployments slated to roll out in phases through 2026. 3
“We’re proud to announce this milestone partnership with Microsoft,” co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts said at the time. 4
Monday’s trading was heavy: about 47 million shares changed hands, above the stock’s roughly 40 million three-month average volume, according to Investing.com. The stock traded between $44.17 and $48.30 during the session, and it has swung from about $5.13 to $76.87 over the past 52 weeks. 5
The risk case is straightforward. Bitcoin’s price can reverse quickly, and delays in chip deliveries or data center commissioning can hit timelines — a key sensitivity given Microsoft’s deal terms, including the possibility of termination if delivery schedules are not met, a Reuters report on the contract said. 3
Next up, traders will watch whether the stock holds above Monday’s breakout area near the mid-$40s and whether bitcoin extends its move. The next hard catalyst is IREN’s next results update — market calendars such as Investing.com list Feb. 18 as the next earnings date. 5
