New York, Jan 15, 2026, 11:52 AM EST — Regular session
- IREN shares dipped roughly 0.5% during late morning trading on Nasdaq.
- H.C. Wainwright lowered its near-term earnings forecasts but maintained a Buy rating and an $80 price target.
- Bitcoin slipped, dragging crypto-linked stocks lower, even as IREN shifts its focus to AI data centers.
Shares of IREN Limited dipped Thursday following a downgrade in near-term earnings estimates by H.C. Wainwright. The brokerage, however, maintained its Buy rating and held firm on an $80 price target.
The pullback is significant since IREN now acts as a high-beta stand-in for two volatile bets: bitcoin-related cash flow and the scramble by major tech players to secure power and graphics-chip capacity for AI. Even minor changes in expectations have sparked swift stock repricing.
IREN slipped 0.5% to $52.61, bouncing between $50.81 and $53.89 earlier. Bitcoin dropped roughly 0.8% to near $96,632, a decline that typically weighs on miners and crypto-linked stocks.
H.C. Wainwright’s Mike Colonnese downgraded IREN’s fiscal Q2 EPS forecast to a 13-cent loss, up from a 6-cent loss previously, MarketBeat reported Thursday. The analyst maintained the Buy rating and kept the $80 price target intact.
The stock’s AI angle hinges on a multi-year deal with Microsoft revealed in a November filing. IREN will offer Microsoft dedicated GPU infrastructure at its Childress, Texas data centers, under a contract valued at roughly $9.7 billion through 2031.
The filing also detailed GPU deployments set to roll out in phases throughout 2026, tied to a supply agreement with Dell worth about $5.8 billion for chips and related gear. It spelled out termination rights should IREN fail to meet delivery deadlines.
At the announcement of the Microsoft deal, co-chief executive Daniel Roberts described it as a “milestone partnership” that showcased the “strength and scalability” of IREN’s platform. Jonathan Tinter from Microsoft emphasized the collaboration’s focus on delivering “cutting-edge AI infrastructure” to customers.
Thursday’s action saw traders continuing to treat IREN somewhat like a crypto play. Riot Platforms slipped roughly 1.5%, and CleanSpark dipped slightly, while Marathon Digital held steady. On the other hand, Core Scientific, a data-center operator with AI ties, gained about 1%.
The immediate priority is execution—how quickly IREN can bring new capacity online and if prepayments plus financing will cover the hefty upfront costs tied to the GPU rollout. Delays risk hitting revenue timing and shaking confidence.
Downside risks are evident. A further slide in bitcoin could hurt sentiment and tighten funding conditions. Meanwhile, any hold-ups in powering up liquid-cooled data centers might lead to penalties or contract disputes, the filing revealed.
Investors are keeping an eye on whether broker optimism will hold up in the upcoming earnings report. Market calendars from Nasdaq and Zacks suggest a likely update around Feb. 11, but these dates are projections, not official company announcements.
