Goldman Sachs Initiates Iren (IREN) With Neutral Rating, Cites AI Growth and High Valuation

Core Viewpoint - Iren Limited is positioned as a key player in the AI infrastructure sector, with significant growth potential driven by a major contract with Microsoft, although it is currently viewed as overvalued by Goldman Sachs [1][3]. Group 1: Company Overview - Iren Limited operates in the vertically integrated data center business in Australia and Canada, owning and managing computing hardware, electrical infrastructure, and data centers [4]. Group 2: Financial Performance - In FQ1 2026, Iren reported revenue of $240.3 million, marking a substantial 355% year-over-year increase from $52.8 million in FQ1 2025, with a record net income of $384.6 million primarily due to unrealized gains on financial instruments [3]. Group 3: Growth Strategy - The cornerstone of Iren's growth strategy is a $9.7 billion AI cloud contract with Microsoft, under which Iren will provide 200MW of IT load using NVIDIA's GB300 GPUs, expected to generate $1.94 billion in annual recurring revenue at an estimated 85% EBITDA margin [2]. - To support this contract, Iren is accelerating the construction of its Horizon 1–4 liquid-cooled data centers in Childress, Texas, designed to Tier 3 standards and capable of extreme rack densities of 130kW to 200kW [2]. Group 4: Market Positioning - Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Iren with a Neutral rating and a price target of $39, highlighting the company's potential as a beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom, forecasting a 7x revenue increase by 2028, but cautioning that the stock is trading at a premium [1][3].