IREN Stock Plummets After Hours Amid Shift from Bitcoin Mining to AI

IREN, a company that operates as both a Bitcoin miner and an AI infrastructure provider, saw its shares drop by about 8% after hours following the release of its fiscal 2026 results. The decline came despite the fact that the company's AI cloud revenue doubled to $70.5 million in Q4, accounting for more than half of quarterly revenue.

The company reported a net loss of $684 million, largely due to non-cash impairment charges tied to decommissioned Bitcoin mining equipment. However, its 2026 capacity is effectively sold out, with about $4 billion in contracted annual recurring revenue (ARR). IREN has secured deals with major AI companies, including Microsoft, and has expanded its customer base.

The shift towards AI infrastructure reflects a broader trend in the crypto-mining industry, as operators seek to repurpose power-secured data centers for the growing demand for AI computing. The global AI cloud market is projected to reach $133.42 billion in 2026, driven by rising enterprise spending on GPUs and specialized cloud platforms.