New York, June 2, 2026, 14:10 (EDT)
IREN Limited shares climbed in early afternoon trade on Nasdaq Tuesday. The data-center operator closed a $3.65 billion financing deal connected to its Microsoft AI cloud contract. Investors got a new read on IREN’s speed in converting contracted demand to live capacity.
The stock rose 3.8% to $67.79 as of 1:55 p.m. ET, after hitting a session high of $69.53. Volume was over 32 million shares. IREN’s market cap was around $22.6 billion.
IREN’s new investment-grade debt is key because it moves the story past deal talk and into action. The company said the facility, which agencies rate as relatively lower risk, will cover GPU purchases for its Microsoft deal. GPUs are the chips used for training and running AI models.
The company said the package, plus customer prepayments, covers around 96% of $5.81 billion in GPU capital spending for Microsoft. The funding mix includes a $2.10 billion U.S. private placement and a $1.55 billion delayed-draw term loan. The debt carries a blended cost of 6.00%. Pricing references SOFR, or the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which is backed by Treasury collateral.
IREN’s IE US Hardware 3 subsidiary has signed off on financing deals, according to a U.S. filing. The agreements, dated May 29, cover roughly $1.5 billion in delayed-draw loans and $2.1 billion in 5.96% senior notes set to mature Dec. 31, 2031. The debt is backed by GPU assets and cash flows tied to the Microsoft contract.
IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts said the deal shows the “quality of our customer contracts” and “lowers our cost of capital as we scale.” IREN said Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan acted as joint lead managers and arrangers.
Microsoft locked in a $9.7 billion cloud contract with IREN in November, looking to shore up its access to Nvidia chips, Reuters said. The five-year deal is aimed at easing Microsoft’s AI computing crunch without having to build all its own data centers and secure the power itself. But Reuters noted the contract has a termination clause if IREN falls behind on delivery.
IREN’s latest financing deal comes after it announced plans last week to buy around $1.6 billion of Dell air-cooled Blackwell systems for its Childress, Texas site. Commissioning is targeted for early 2027. IREN said that system could push its annualized run-rate revenue to $4.4 billion, up from $3.7 billion.
Roberts said the main limit for AI customers is “time-to-compute,” meaning how quickly they can use the computing power they buy. The Dell agreement includes GPUs, servers, storage, networking, integration plus warranties, and lets buyers pay after shipment.
IREN is getting compared to the “neocloud” group — firms that lease AI compute built on Nvidia chips. Reuters tags CoreWeave and Nebius as rivals in that segment. On Tuesday, CoreWeave shares dropped 2.4%, even as the tech-focused QQQ ETF rose 0.25%. Reuters
Wall Street turned more positive on IREN after its run of new contracts. Last week, B. Riley Securities analyst Lucas Pipes kept his Buy and lifted his target to $88 from $83. B. Riley pointed to a “meaningful” pick-up in hyperscale contracting speed and volume. Sahm TipRanks
But there are catches. The filing shows Hardware 3 has to hit a minimum debt-service coverage ratio, and defaults could trigger repayment. IREN’s parent faces limited guarantee risk if Microsoft does not take or cancels a tranche and resale of GPUs falls short. So the downside depends less on AI demand now, and more on delivery, whether Microsoft accepts, how the financing holds up, and risks tied to heavy power and construction.
Nvidia is backing IREN again, and laying out new targets for the company to meet. Back in May, Nvidia and IREN said they would work together on up to 5 gigawatts of AI infrastructure. Nvidia got the option to buy as many as 30 million IREN shares at $70 apiece over five years if certain conditions are met. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said “AI factories are becoming foundational infrastructure.”
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