IREN surges after $9.7 billion AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft

IREN has gained 8.51% ( 5.17) after entering into a $9.7 billion five-year agreement with Microsoft, which also gives the tech giant access to Nvidia chips. The AI-driven cloud service provider’s quarterly sales, published last week, beat Wall Street’s expectations, growing 18% to $77.7 billion. 

Google Finance data shows that IREN’s stock surged 21.23% ( 12.90) pre-market to a high of $73.65 in the past 24 hours, and roughly 30.18% ( 15.15) in the last month. IREN’s share price has surged more than sixfold in 2025, increasing the total market value to $16.52 billion. 

IREN’s stock has also risen 881.42% ( 54.56) in the past six months and 518.64% ( 50.93) YTD. The company’s deal with Dell to purchase Nvidia GB300 GPU chips and ancillary equipment for $5.8 billion reportedly boosted its share price. Dell’s shares also jumped about 4% after the deal was announced. IREN expects to deploy the chips in phases through 2026 at its Texas Childress campus, along with liquid-cooling solutions.  

Tinter says collaboration opens new opportunities

Microsoft’s president of business development and ventures, Jonathan Tinter, said the partnership brings new opportunities for both customers and the companies. He added that IREN is a strategic partner because Microsoft will be able to combine its secured power capacity with IREN’s expertise in building and operating a fully integrated AI cloud. 

The deal covers about 200 MW of capacity, which catapults IREN into legitimacy as it hosts a Big Tech giant. Brett Knoblauch, a Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, called it a game-changer for IREN, as it gives them an anchor tenant.

IREN also said that collaborating with Microsoft expanded the tech company’s access to power without incurring costly capital expenditures to construct data centers. IREN is finding better use for its infrastructure as it transitions from Bitcoin mining to an HPC (high-performance computing) provider.

Knoblauch reiterated his high rating on IREN and increased his price projection from $100 to $142 following news of Monday’s collaboration. He added that, relative to its contracted megawatts, IREN is still trading at a discount of roughly 75% from its neocloud peers.   

The AI cloud service provider operates multiple data centers across the U.S., all fully powered by renewable energy, with a total capacity of 2,910 MW. The company reported last week that its quarterly sales surpassed Wall Street’s projections, jumping 18% to $77.7 billion. Daniel Roberts, IREN’s CEO, stated that the collaboration could potentially generate an annualized revenue of approximately $1.94 billion upon full implementation. 

Hood expects Microsoft’s AI capacity crunch to stretch into mid-2026

Amy Hood, Microsoft’s CFO, said last week that her company expects its AI crunch to stretch into mid-2026, after previously projecting improvements before the year’s end. Tinter pointed out that Microsoft’s inability to build data centers or secure additional power is the biggest hurdle slowing the company’s ability to satisfy surging AI demand. However, he noted that the deal will allow his company to avoid heavy capital spending on chips that will eventually lose value in the wake of newer, more powerful chips.  

Microsoft stated that the recent move to partner with IREN is part of its broader strategy to alleviate its cloud bottleneck. The partnership marks a shift in how Big Techs secure AI infrastructure, relying on specialized and nimble operators to stay competitive against the industry’s exponential demand. Microsoft’s deal with IREN is its most significant investment in AI infrastructure to date. 

Microsoft also aims to accelerate the deployment of Nvidia’s chips to strengthen its AI infrastructure. Its strategic move will help it keep pace with increasing AI workloads that are straining existing data centers. 

The tech firm announced a similar partnership last week with OpenAI. However, this time, Microsoft acquired a 27% stake in OpenAI for $135 billion.

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