New York, Jan 18, 2026, 07:38 EST — Market closed
- IREN shares surged on Friday and maintained their gains in after-hours trading.
- Attention remained fixed on analyst upgrades and the Microsoft AI cloud deal.
- U.S. stock markets remain closed Monday in observance of MLK Day; trading will pick back up Tuesday.
Shares of IREN Limited surged 11.4% on Friday, finishing at $57.82. In after-hours trading, they edged up another 0.8% following the 4 p.m. close. 1
The stock faces an extended break this time. U.S. markets will be shut on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Trading picks back up Tuesday. 2
This is significant for IREN, which straddles two volatile sectors — crypto and artificial intelligence. Bitcoin hovered near $95,073 on Sunday, showing little movement.
Analyst moves played a role as well. On Jan. 13, H.C. Wainwright & Co upgraded IREN from “sell” to “buy,” according to a report on Nasdaq.com. 3
The main driver remains AI capacity and who can provide it. Microsoft has inked a five-year deal worth about $9.7 billion with IREN, granting access to Nvidia’s advanced GPUs — the chips essential for training AI models — purchased via Dell, Reuters reported. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood warned that shortages are likely to last “through mid-2026.” Reuters also noted the contract includes a clause allowing termination if IREN fails to meet delivery deadlines. 4
IREN, an Australia-based operator of renewable-powered data centers, operates sites in Canada and Texas. It runs bitcoin mining alongside AI cloud services. According to a Reuters profile, its AI cloud business uses roughly 1,896 Nvidia H100 and H200 GPUs. 5
Friday’s action was volatile and noisy. IREN fluctuated from $51.85 up to $58.74, with roughly 54 million shares trading hands, per market data.
The rally also mirrored a wider push among U.S.-listed miners pitching a “power-to-compute” story. Riot Platforms jumped roughly 16% on Friday, while Marathon Digital climbed about 7%. Riot announced it secured an AI data-center lease agreement with Advanced Micro Devices valued at up to $1 billion, according to Barron’s. 6
When trading resumes Tuesday, the key will be if IREN can stay above the mid-$50s as liquidity returns. A drop in bitcoin or another stumble in the AI sector could quickly erase a week’s gains.
But the upside story isn’t without risks. IREN is pouring money into large build-outs and snapping up chips and servers in a market known for rapid price swings. Any delay in bringing new capacity online or a spike in power costs could hit margins hard. On top of that, a fall in crypto prices would tighten mining cash flow.
Earnings are the next key event. MarketBeat projects IREN will release its results on Feb. 11, following its usual timing, with a conference call set for Feb. 12. 7
