IREN stock surges on renewed hyperscaler customer interest and announcement of possible Bitcoin dividend
Shares of bitcoin miner IREN rose nearly 30% on Wednesday after executives announced during an earnings conference call that the company had received interest from an artificial intelligence firm and mentioned a potential dividend in bitcoin. The Sydney-based company has been approached by a hyperscaler firm—a large cloud service provider—for potentially hosting computing infrastructure at IREN's Sweetwater mining site in Texas. Co-CEO and co-founder Daniel Roberts stated on the call: "Two hours ago, we got an email from a trillion-dollar hyperscaler that said they weren't interested in Sweetwater, and now they are," though he declined to provide extensive details about the proposal.
IREN is among numerous miners attempting to diversify revenue by hosting major technology companies' data centers for running machines to support surging demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. This shift began earlier this year following Bitcoin's fourth halving, which cut rewards by 50% and squeezed miners' profit margins. Rival Core Scientific initiated the trend by signing artificial intelligence hosting deals valued at billions of dollars, which drove its stock price upward and prompted other miners to pursue similar strategies. Roberts cautioned that the company would not provide guidance on specific terms or timing, saying: "We will continue not to provide guidance on specific terms or timing, given the uncertainties. Given the nature that we are dealing with counterparties, it is not all within our control. However, we continue to progress negotiations with some very large counterparties and hyperscalers."
The mining company, formerly known as Iris Energy, appointed Morgan Stanley in July to potentially monetize its mining facilities for the artificial intelligence data center market. Its share price had underperformed peers through most of the year following a short seller's claim that one of its sites was unsuitable for that type of work. However, statements from the earnings conference call appear to have shifted market perception.
Company executives also indicated that Bitcoin's surge to near-record highs may enable a dividend payment. CFO Belinda Nucifora stated: "The achievement of positive operating cash flows may support a potential for investor distribution in calendar year 2025." With IREN mining bitcoin at approximately $29,000 compared with the market price of around $96,000, co-CEO Roberts emphasized the company's advantage in accumulating bitcoin at discounted prices. He noted: "When you look at the market today and you see a number of different companies accumulating bitcoin on their balance sheet, paying market price or close, I think the opportunity to generate $29,000-cash-cost bitcoin for investors and effectively distribute that coin out either through the physical coin … or as cash flow is pretty powerful."