New York, Jan 10, 2026, 08:25 EST — Market closed
- IREN ended Friday slightly higher, with crypto-linked names still swinging on macro and bitcoin.
- A Bernstein analyst flagged IREN as a top AI pick for 2026.
- Traders head into next week with U.S. inflation data and the Fed’s January meeting in focus.
IREN Limited (Nasdaq: IREN) shares closed up 0.7% at $46.03 on Friday, after trading as low as $45.52 and topping out just under $50. Bitcoin was little changed near $90,600 into Saturday.
The setup matters now because IREN sits in two crowded trades at once — bitcoin mining and the scramble for power-heavy data centers to run AI workloads — and both can turn fast when rate bets move. Traders have pared expectations for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts after Friday’s U.S. jobs data, a shift that can lean against higher-beta stocks.
The next test comes quickly. December U.S. CPI data are due on Jan. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Fed’s next policy meeting runs Jan. 27-28.
Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani called IREN “our top AI pick” for 2026, TipRanks reported. Chhugani also urged investors to “start 2026 by buying stocks on the dip,” and said crypto markets “have bottomed,” according to the report. TipRanks
Mining peers were mixed at the end of the week. Marathon Digital fell 2.0% on Friday, Riot Platforms rose 1.3% and CleanSpark slid 3.1%, based on last closes.
IREN’s longer-running bull case leans on its push beyond mining into AI cloud — renting out GPU (graphics processing unit) compute, the chips used to train and run AI models. In November, IREN said it had signed a multi-year agreement with Microsoft valued at about $9.7 billion, with GPU deployments planned through 2026 at its Childress, Texas campus; co-CEO Daniel Roberts called it a “milestone partnership.” IREN
Share supply is also on watch. IREN filed a Form S-8 earlier this month to register 17.5 million ordinary shares for its 2025 Omnibus Incentive Plan, an SEC filing showed — a standard registration used for employee compensation plans.
But this trade can break the other way. A sharp dip in bitcoin, a fresh move higher in bond yields, or any stumble in bringing new AI capacity online would likely hit a stock that tends to trade like a levered read on risk appetite.
For the next session, chart-watchers will keep an eye on whether IREN can clear the $50 area again after Friday’s failed push, with $45-$46 as the nearer support zone. Beyond Tuesday’s CPI print, the next company marker is results: IREN’s next earnings release is expected around Feb. 11, according to Zacks.
