IREN’s First Liquid-Cooled AI Phase Goes Live as Contracts and Index Inclusion Converge
25.05.2026 - 07:13:03 | boerse-global.de
The transformation at IREN is no longer just a PowerPoint story. The first of four planned 50-megawatt phases at its Childress, Texas site has come online, powered by Motivair liquid cooling for Nvidia’s Blackwell GB300 and B200 chips. The milestone pushed the stock up 12.85% last week and left it trading 34% above the start of the year.
The so-called Horizon 1 phase delivers 200 kilowatts of compute density per rack, a spec that matters in the fiercely competitive data-center market. The remaining three phases—another 150 megawatts in total—are scheduled for completion by 2026 and form the backbone of the $9.7 billion contract with Microsoft. Once fully deployed, that deal is expected to provide IREN with steady, recurring revenue.
Investors, however, are also eyeing the uncommitted capacity. A separate five-year, $3.4 billion agreement with Nvidia covers 60 megawatts of air-cooled Blackwell systems. That leaves roughly 390 megawatts of the 750-megawatt Childress site available for negotiation. Management has pegged the uncontracted capacity for the second half of 2026 at the equivalent of 50,000 air-cooled GPUs, and conversations with prospective tenants are already underway.
The growing pipeline received additional validation last week when FTSE Russell preliminarily selected IREN for inclusion in the Russell 3000 Index, with the change set to take effect at the end of June. Index-tracking ETFs and institutional portfolios will then be forced buyers, a dynamic that typically boosts trading volumes in the run-up to the reconstitution date.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying IREN?
Funding the buildout required a large capital injection. IREN placed a $3.0 billion convertible bond with a 1.0% coupon and a conversion premium of 32.5%. Net proceeds came to $2.96 billion, of which roughly $201 million went into capped-call transactions that cap equity dilution for existing shareholders up to a share price of $110.30. As of late April, the company held $2.6 billion in cash. About 95% of the investment needed for the Microsoft infrastructure is already covered by prepayments and GPU financing.
The transition from Bitcoin miner to AI infrastructure provider is leaving its mark on the income statement. In the fiscal third quarter, IREN reported a net loss of $247.8 million, largely driven by a $140.4 million non-cash impairment on retired mining hardware. The brighter spot was AI cloud revenue, which doubled sequentially to $33.6 million. Annualized contracted revenue now stands at $3.1 billion, with a target of $3.7 billion by the end of 2026.
Alongside the financials, IREN also acquired creative agency Awaken, installing founder Chris Parker to lead its global brand strategy. The move signals an intention to build internal marketing muscle as the company competes for hyperscaler and enterprise AI clients.
IREN at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
Execution risks remain real. Analysts point to GPU delivery timing and elevated electricity costs as potential headwinds in the second half of 2026, before the contracted revenue stream reaches full force. The stock closed Friday at €48.90 in European trading, comfortably above its 200-day moving average but still well short of its 52-week high. After the Memorial Day holiday in the US, all eyes will be on whether the price holds the support level north of $55.
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IREN Stock: New Analysis - 25 May
Fresh IREN information released. What's the impact for investors? Our latest independent report examines recent figures and market trends.
