IREN AI Cloud Revenue Tops Bitcoin Mining Amid Loss
IREN’s AI cloud revenue surpassed Bitcoin mining revenue for the first time, marking a major shift in the Bitcoin miner’s business model. In the latest quarter, AI cloud revenue reached $70.5 million, or 51.4% of total revenue, while Bitcoin mining revenue fell 40% quarter on quarter to $66.7 million. Total revenue declined 5% quarter on quarter to $137.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA fell 68% to $19.2 million. IREN reported a $684 million net loss, including a $450.4 million non-cash impairment charge linked mainly to retired mining equipment. An earlier report also showed weaker mining revenue, a $247.8 million loss and $140.4 million in asset impairments. IREN is converting mining infrastructure into AI data centres, increasing spending on GPUs, cooling, power upgrades and engineering staff. The company has signed major cloud agreements, including a five-year, $3.4 billion NVIDIA contract and a $9.7 billion Microsoft arrangement. It also plans to expand in Spain through the acquisition of Ingenostrum, adding 490MW of connected power and a development pipeline exceeding 1GW. IREN says contracts represent about $4 billion in annualised revenue capacity for 2026, but only around $1 billion is operational. The company is targeting $3.7 billion in contracted annual revenue by the end of 2026 and 1,210MW of capacity by 2027. Shares fell 12.53% after the latest results. Traders should monitor AI capacity activation, customer demand, project execution and EBITDA recovery, as heavy investment and declining Bitcoin mining cash flow remain key risks.
Neutral
The direct impact on Bitcoin is likely neutral. IREN’s results are negative for the company and may weigh on sentiment toward publicly traded Bitcoin miners, but they do not materially change Bitcoin’s supply, demand or network fundamentals. In the short term, falling mining revenue, lower Bitcoin prices in the earlier report and the retirement of older equipment could reinforce concerns about miner selling pressure and sector financial stress. However, the reported impairment charges are largely non-cash and do not directly represent new Bitcoin selling. Over the longer term, IREN’s shift towards AI data centres could reduce its dependence on Bitcoin mining and potentially support more stable corporate cash flow. The strategy still faces substantial execution, funding, customer-demand and capacity-delivery risks. Traders are therefore more likely to treat the news as an IREN and crypto-miner equity event than as a direct catalyst for BTC, keeping the expected Bitcoin price impact neutral.