IREN Stock Surges 6% as Microsoft Accepts First Horizon Data Center

IREN Limited shares surged about 6% on August 21 as investors reacted to recent developments. The Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure company's stock price rose from below $40 to around $44.33, with its market capitalization increasing to approximately $16.14 billion.

The price increase can be attributed to the acceptance of IREN's first Horizon data center by Microsoft under their five-year, $9.7 billion agreement. The 50MW data center is part of a planned 200MW buildout at IREN's Childress, Texas campus.

Additionally, investors are still reacting to the announcement on July 20 that IREN secured $2.8 billion in new multi-year AI Cloud contracts and raised its year-end 2026 AI Cloud annualized revenue target from $3.7 billion to over $4 billion.

IREN's AI business has been gaining attention, with the company acquiring cloud software company Mirantis on August 4 for about $40 million in cash, restricted stock units, and other considerations.