IREN drops after Russell 1000 debut wipes out $2.8 billion, compensation questions rise

NEW YORK, July 3, 2026, 08:10 (EDT)

  • IREN Limited finished at $38.82, off 10.39%, before the Nasdaq’s Independence Day close on July 3.
  • The stock dropped nine sessions in a row, down 17.8% from last Friday’s close, despite joining the Russell 1000.
  • The week kicks off with a key question for buyers: can they shrug off a fresh 18.2 million-RSU grant to the co-CEOs and the pressure from Meta’s cloud?

U.S. equity markets are closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday, so Thursday’s session marked the last trading for IREN Limited . According to Nasdaq, July 3, 2026 is listed as a market holiday for Independence Day observed. Usual hours run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

IREN ended Thursday at $38.82, dropping 10.39%. Shares hit a session low of $37.66 before settling. In late after-hours trading, the stock was at $39.17. The fall wrapped up nine straight lower closes from June 22 to July 2, according to daily data.

IREN recent sessionCloseDaily moveVolume
Jun 26$47.21-1.11%50.9 mln
Jun 29$45.91-2.75%34.3 mln
Jun 30$45.73-0.39%28.3 mln
Jul 1$43.32-5.27%41.8 mln
Jul 2$38.82-10.39%60.2 mln

Holders are focused on more than the 10% drop on Thursday. Timing is key. IREN said on June 29 it joined the Russell 1000 Index after the close on June 26, as part of FTSE Russell’s reconstitution. The stock is down 17.8% since the June 26 close.

About $1.5 billion in implied equity value came off on Thursday, based on the last close and live market data. Since the June 26 close, that implied share count shows the week’s drop is close to $2.8 billion.

ItemFigure
Last close$38.82
Market cap at last quote$12.96 bln
Implied shares from market cap/price333.7 mln
One-day value loss, using Jul 1 close~$1.5 bln
Loss from Jun 26 close~$2.8 bln

Shares fell after IREN said in a July 1 filing that its board signed off on 9,099,328 restricted stock units apiece for co-CEOs William Roberts and Daniel Roberts. The grants come with a six-year vesting and holding period. Neither co-CEO is set to get another equity incentive grant until fiscal 2031.

The 18,198,656 RSUs were valued at about $706 million at Thursday’s close, accounting for roughly 5.5% of the implied equity count. That’s down from $788 million, based on Wednesday’s $43.32 finish. Short-seller Jim Chanos said the grant works out to “17% of the estimated cumulative Adjusted Net Income” from fiscal 2027 through 2030. Benzinga

IREN has focused on execution and new hires. On July 2, the company appointed Kambiz Aghili as chief product officer and Michael Nudelman as chief development officer. Aghili had worked at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure before this. Nudelman had been in senior positions at Google, CyrusOne, and Beale Infrastructure. Daniel Roberts said IREN’s growth relies on “securing large-scale land and power in the right markets.”

Investors shrugged off the new hire Thursday. IREN dropped harder than CoreWeave , Nebius Group and Meta Platforms , and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8%. Reuters, citing Bloomberg News, reported this week that Meta is looking to build a cloud business to offload extra AI computing power. Reuters said it couldn’t independently confirm the Bloomberg report.

July 2 market readMovePrice/close
IREN fell 10.39%$38.82
CoreWeave dropped 4.59%$81.75
Nebius Group slipped 5.92%$215.62
Meta Platforms lost 4.94%$582.90
Nasdaq Compositewas down 0.80%25,832.67
Bitcoinadded 1.32%$62,052

Bulls are still betting on power. IREN claims 5 GW secured, spread over six sites. That includes 810 MW running now, 2,100 MW being built and 1,600 MW still in development.

The NVIDIA deal is still in the background. Back in May, NVIDIA and IREN agreed to work together on as much as 5 GW of NVIDIA DSX-aligned AI infrastructure. The deal also handed NVIDIA a five-year option to buy up to 30 million IREN shares for $70 each, or up to $2.1 billion, but only if certain conditions are met. That’s 44.5% above Thursday’s close.

Monday’s open will set the tone for the week. The main levels are Thursday’s $37.66 low and $43.42 high, with 60.2 million shares traded. If IREN trades below the low, the losing streak goes to ten sessions. Climbing back above the high still keeps shares under the pre-RSU filing price.

Marcin Frąckiewicz

Marcin Frąckiewicz is the founder and CEO of TS2 Space, a satellite communications company working with customers worldwide. His experience spans satellite communications, telecommunications and technology ventures. He graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and writes about space technology, artificial intelligence, stocks and the technology companies and industries he follows. Follow Marcin Frąckiewicz on Google News, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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