Bitcoin miner turns AI cloud contender

Core Insights - IREN Limited is transitioning from a Bitcoin mining company to a significant player in the AI compute infrastructure sector, with its stock surging over 630% in the past year, reflecting strong investor confidence in this transformation [1][2] Company Transformation - The company has reallocated capital and infrastructure from cryptocurrency mining to AI compute and cloud services, resulting in a 590% stock increase year-to-date and a 31% gain in the past month, driven by partnerships with Nvidia and Microsoft [2][4] - IREN operates 810 MW of data centers in North America and has 2.9 GW of grid-connected power, with plans for future expansions supported by a multi-gigawatt development pipeline [3] Market Trends - Deloitte's survey indicates that 87% of respondents expect significant short-term growth from emerging AI cloud providers, with 78% anticipating growth from edge-computing platforms, highlighting a shift towards specialized AI environments [4] - This trend is reflected in IREN's business reorientation towards AI infrastructure, evidenced by a 330% stock surge over the quarter [4] Major Contracts - On November 3, IREN signed a five-year, $9.7 billion GPU cloud services agreement with Microsoft, marking one of the most significant private AI infrastructure contracts of the year [5] - The company has also doubled its AI fleet to 23,000 GPUs, including NVIDIA B200, B300, and AMD MI350X units [6] Analyst Sentiment - Analyst opinions are mixed, with Cantor Fitzgerald raising its price target to $142 while maintaining an Overweight rating, whereas HC Wainwright downgraded IREN to Sell with a price target of $45, citing concerns over excessive optimism regarding its AI cloud business [7]