IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) investors look likely to head off to the weekend in high spirits. The shares were up by 15% as of writing in Friday’s session after the bitcoin miner/AI data center player posted stronger-than-expected FQ4 adjusted EBITDA and revealed it has been recognized as an “Nvidia preferred partner.”
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Like others in the Bitcoin mining industry, the company is increasingly moving into data centers to capitalize on soaring demand for AI compute, leveraging its existing power infrastructure to accelerate buildouts.
Still, bitcoin mining remains its core business. IREN – which had previously been known as Iris Energy – saw its Bitcoin mining revenue surge by 233% to $180.3 million, though that figure came in just shy of analyst estimates. On the other hand, adj. EBITDA beat expectations, hitting $121.9 million, ahead of the Street’s $111.2 million forecast.
The company is on track to reach nearly $1.25 billion in total annualized revenue, believing there is “scope for further growth ahead.” Of that, more than $1 billion is expected to come from Bitcoin mining, while the AI cloud business could generate $200–250 million annually by December 2025. The company also disclosed it purchased 1,200 air-cooled Nvidia B300s and 1,200 liquid-cooled GB300s for about $168 million, bringing its total GPU fleet to 10,900 units.
Bitcoin might still be the main breadwinner, but for Roth analyst Darren Aftahi, the main takeaway from the earnings call is that it “centered around the angle that it is leaning more heavily into AI Cloud (AIC) compared to colocation leasing of its HPC data centers.” However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t “underlying HPC power demand.”
“While we have long favored HPC colocation, we believe investors should look a step further with IREN as, although it has pushed further into AIC, potential HPC colocation deals with numerous customer and deal types still very much remain on the table,” Aftahi went on to say.
In other words, IREN is positioned to handle every part of the stack. Its recent GPU purchases and demonstrations suggest it has built enough credibility in AI computing that customers may prefer IREN to manage the full package – hardware, software, and data center infrastructure – rather than relying on a separate middleman to operate the GPUs or provide the software layer.
“Overall,” the analyst added, “we believe that IREN still has a lot of flexibility across its ~3GW+ power portfolio and that for now it is moving to meet demand where the demand is more pronounced, which for now appears to be AIC (in a full stack version) and we do not rule out HPC deals.”
While HPC typically involves longer-term leases, AIC offers quicker returns, with payback periods of about 2–3 years based on Aftahi’s calculations – depending on whether it’s just the hardware or both the hardware and data center build.
Bottom line, although there are “a lot of moving parts and capital required,” Aftahi believes that all the above merits a new price target. As such, Aftahi’s objective goes from $26 to $35, with the new figure offering 12-month upside of 34%. Aftahi’s rating stays a Buy. (To watch Aftahi’s track record, click here)
Elsewhere on the Street, the stock claims an additional 4 Buys and 3 Holds, for a Moderate Buy consensus rating. However, going by the $20.93 average target, shares have overshot by 20%. With this in mind, keep an eye out for further price target hikes or rating downgrades shortly. (See IREN stock forecast)
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.