IREN pushes $4 billion of AI revenue into 2027 at Microsoft's request, and the stock jumps 19%

IREN, the AI cloud company that began as a bitcoin miner, told investors on Thursday evening that more than $4 billion of annualized recurring revenue it had planned to have running by the end of 2026 is now targeted for January 2027, and "may extend to the end of February." The reason, according to its earnings release on SEC EDGAR, was "a customer-requested change and supplier timing." On the call, co-CEO Daniel Roberts named the customer as Microsoft, CNBC reported.

The number behind the number

The headline is a delay, not a cancellation. IREN says the $4 billion-plus target is "fully contracted and fully funded." Roberts told analysts Microsoft asked to reconfigure and upgrade network infrastructure to support 200 megawatts of capacity for newer frontier models. A move of one to two months on a revenue run rate is small beside what the quarter itself showed.

Total revenue rose 66% from the prior quarter and AI Cloud revenue rose 182%. The mining business shrank by more than half, so the company is now mostly an AI infrastructure story. The AI Cloud figure includes $135 million of services revenue and $65 million of lease revenue, which was zero a quarter earlier. Revenue backlog rose 22% to $20.3 billion, about two-thirds with investment-grade counterparties, by IREN's own definition. The company still reported a net loss.

The $15 billion question

The part of the release that explains the market's nerves is funding. IREN plans $15 billion of remaining capital spending this fiscal year. About $9 billion is covered by cash and committed GPU financing and prepayments. The other $6 billion is "target" financing, which the company says is "subject to market conditions."

That is why the stock had been hit. CNBC reported a 26% fall after Tuesday's election and a 55% drop over the past month, with CoreWeave down 60% and Nebius down 48% over the same stretch, on worries that debt-reliant AI builders will struggle if rates rise and lenders pull back. Roberts acknowledged the shift: "the questions have undoubtedly moved from how big the contract is to whether it can be delivered, financed, and run at a profit." He also said there is "a disconnect" between public markets and what customers are doing.

What the new contracts say

After quarter-end, IREN says it signed a five-year contract at about $22 million per megawatt, with the customer prepaying 90% of the GPU capital cost, and a short-term contract at $40 million per megawatt. It says contracted pricing is up 11% on three-year deals and 12% on five-year deals. Those are the company's own figures, and the two contract types are not directly comparable: the lower five-year price comes with the customer funding the hardware, which cuts IREN's financing need.

What the stock did

IREN traded at $21.43 at 10:25 AM ET Friday, up $3.40 or 18.9% from Thursday's $18.03 close, according to Nasdaq.com. Its 52-week range is of $17.155 to $75.79. One morning's bounce does not undo the fall in the chart below.

What to watch

CoreWeave reports Tuesday and Nebius next Thursday, and both face the same question about financing. Whether January turns out to be the real date for IREN's $4 billion run rate, and whether the $6 billion of target financing arrives on acceptable terms, will decide if this was a scheduling slip or the first of several. For wider context on the week's technology sell-off, see our market close report.

Sources: IREN Form 8-K and Exhibit 99.1 on SEC EDGAR; CNBC; Nasdaq.com quote data. Some data may be delayed. This is market information, not investment advice.