NEW YORK, August 30, 2026, 08:16 (EDT) — Shares of IREN declined by 12.5% after the company unveiled $4 billion in new AI contracts at the same time as it reported an annual net loss of $703 million.
- IREN ended Friday at $35.45, dropping 12.53%, with 88.62 million shares traded.
- AI Cloud revenue reached $70.5 million for the quarter, doubling from the previous period and overtaking bitcoin mining revenue.
- For the fiscal year, the company posted a net loss of $702.6 million, mainly due to non-cash impairments related to mining hardware.
IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN) fell 12.53% on Friday following its annual report, which highlighted the expenses involved in transitioning from bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure. The stock ended the day at $35.45, close to its session low.
The selloff wiped roughly $1.8 billion from IREN’s market capitalization. It also intensified scrutiny of a key valuation issue: how fast can contracted AI capacity translate into reported revenue and cash flows?
AI Cloud generated $70.5 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, an increase of 110% compared to March. Revenue from Bitcoin mining declined 40% quarter-on-quarter to $66.7 million. For the first time, AI Cloud surpassed Bitcoin mining as the larger segment IREN results.
The crossover failed to shield earnings. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 68% sequentially to $19.2 million, with hiring and platform investment occurring before revenue increased.
The company posted a quarterly net loss of $684.0 million, which factored in a non-cash impairment of $450.4 million primarily from retired mining equipment. Total impairments for the year amounted to $638.8 million.
IREN disclosed contracted annualized run-rate revenue for 2026 capacity at $4 billion, with around $1 billion operational as of the report date. The company’s management notes that ARR does not equate to GAAP revenue, and actual recognized sales may be significantly less.
While funding mitigates certain risks, it introduces new ones. IREN secured $3.6 billion in GPU financing for its Microsoft deployment at an interest rate of 6%. An additional facility of $2.8 billion is set at a fixed 9% rate.
The company reported that its available cash, secured GPU financing, and prepaid customer funds amount to $14 billion. Customer prepayments account for 45% to 55% of the related GPU capital spending.
| Company | Friday close | Move | Volume | Market value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IREN | $35.45 | -12.53% | 88.62m | $12.67bn |
| CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) | $84.23 | -2.94% | 17.33m | $46.41bn |
| MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) | $10.67 | -10.15% | 41.93m | $4.07bn |
IREN finished Friday trading at a valuation of nearly 18 times its estimated 2026 revenue. Its contracted ARR makes up about a third of its market capitalization, though this measure does not account for the time needed to build, associated financing expenses, or potential contract risks.
The stock declined over CoreWeave and also surpassed losses in MARA. This trend indicates investors were reacting to transition execution as well as to weaker crypto-connected stocks.
Wall Street continues to differ on when a turnaround will occur. B. Riley analyst Nick Giles saw this quarter as confirmation of IREN’s commercial strategy. H.C. Wainwright maintained its Buy rating and $90 price target following the results Barron’s.
The upcoming operational milestones have been identified. Horizon 2 is in the commissioning phase, and both Horizon 3 and Horizon 4 are set for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2026. Microsoft received the initial 50-megawatt liquid-cooled deployment in August.
IREN’s development pipeline now exceeds 5 gigawatts of secured power. According to its official website, the company has 810 megawatts in operation and 2.1 gigawatts currently being built company data.
Risks: Contracted ARR might take time to turn into recognized revenue. Cash flow could face pressure from concentrated customers, construction setbacks, funding expenses between 6% and 9%, and potential additional mining write-downs. Accelerated commissioning or increased managed-services revenue may offer upside.
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