Why IREN Limited Sank Over 21% in November

Shares of Bitcoin miner-turned-AI neocloud IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN) sank 21.3% successful November, according to information from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The stock's diminution wasn't needfully owed to thing IREN did incorrect -- rather the contrary, actually. In fact, IREN lone had affirmative quality astatine the institution level.

Still, wide concerns astir the information of the AI buildout harmed virtually each companies progressive successful gathering multi-billion-dollar information centers -- particularly those babelike connected the indebtedness markets to rise superior for the effort.

Given that IREN had appreciated immoderate 500% connected the twelvemonth coming into the month, the banal saw a terrible circular of profit-taking. Yet, the pullback could contiguous an accidental if the AI infrastructure buildout continues astatine a accelerated pace.

IREN really initially surged aboriginal successful November upon the merchandise of its third-quarter net and the announcement of a caller five-year woody with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). IREN is 1 of the newer players successful the AI information halfway space, having conscionable precocious converted from mining Bitcoin exclusively to hosting AI infrastructure. Prior AI tenants successful IREN's owned and operated infrastructure see neoclouds Fluidstack and Together.ai. However, Microsoft is by acold the astir prominent, best-funded lawsuit to date, and whitethorn apt pave the mode for much large tech companies to rent GPU capableness from IREN.

After all, IREN owns astir 3 gigawatts (GW) of secured grid-powered capacity, acknowledgment to its prescient stake connected securing a important magnitude of low-cost, renewable energy-powered information halfway capableness earlier the AI roar took off. That's a monolithic magnitude of power; each gigawatt is astir equivalent to the powerfulness capableness of an full atomic powerfulness plant. Counting the Microsoft woody on with its existing AI customers and the contracts it expects to bring online successful 2026, IREN volition lone capable astir 16% of that full capableness by the extremity of this year.

As investors came to recognize IREN's unsocial plus successful a power-constrained environment, the banal took disconnected earlier successful 2025. But the downside for IREN is that successful bid to physique retired its GPU-filled information centers, it volition inactive person to rise billions of dollars up of receiving that rental income.