{"slug": "iren-stock-jumps-12-after-microsoft-horizon-1-delivery-nvidia-exemplar-cloud", "title": "IREN stock jumps 12% after Microsoft Horizon 1 delivery, Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status", "summary": "IREN Ltd. shares rose more than 12% after the AI cloud infrastructure provider delivered the first phase of its Microsoft deployment and secured Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status. The company completed Horizon 1, a 50-megawatt direct-to-chip liquid-cooled AI cloud deployment at its Childress, Texas campus, part of a five-year, $9.7 billion agreement with Microsoft. IREN also announced that Horizon 1 achieved Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status after testing its Nvidia GB300 NVL72 deployment, and it plans to expand its AI cloud platform to 480 MW in 2026 and 1.2 gigawatts in 2027.", "body_md": "IREN Ltd. shares rose more than 12% in Thursday morning trading after the AI cloud infrastructure provider announced it had delivered the first phase of its large-scale Microsoft deployment and secured Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status, marking two significant milestones in its push to become a leading provider of AI computing infrastructure.\n\nIREN said it had completed delivery of Horizon 1, the first of four planned 50-megawatt direct-to-chip liquid-cooled AI cloud deployments being built for Microsoft at the company's Childress, Texas campus.\n\nThe project forms part of a five-year, $9.7 billion cloud services agreement announced with Microsoft in November 2025.\n\n\"The rapid delivery of Horizon 1 to Microsoft reflects the agility of IREN's vertically integrated model, which provides end-to-end control across design, engineering and construction of the data centers supporting its GPU deployments,\" the company said in a statement.\n\nIREN also announced that Horizon 1 had achieved Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status after the chipmaker tested the company's Nvidia GB300 NVL72 deployment.\n\nThe designation highlights that the deployment meets Nvidia's performance and operational standards for next-generation AI infrastructure.\n\nThe company said it remains on track to expand its AI cloud platform to 480 MW of gross capacity during 2026 before increasing it to 1.2 gigawatts in 2027.\n\n## Executives eye further expansion\n\nDaniel Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of IREN, said the successful delivery demonstrated the company's ability to rapidly execute complex AI infrastructure projects.\n\n“Delivering Horizon 1 demonstrates the strength of our vertically integrated model and our ability to execute complex AI infrastructure projects at speed and scale.\n\nI want to congratulate and thank the more than 3,000 people across our site team whose expertise, commitment and execution made this milestone possible.\n\nWe look forward to building on this momentum with Microsoft as we work to deliver Horizons 2-4 later this year.”\n\nThe remaining three Horizon deployments are expected to be completed later this year as part of the Microsoft contract.\n\n## AI infrastructure demand lifts sentiment\n\nIREN has also benefited recently from broader optimism surrounding AI infrastructure companies.\n\nThe stock has rallied roughly 22% over the past five trading sessions.\n\nEarlier this week, Nvidia, one of IREN's major shareholders, announced a $500 billion financing initiative with investment firms including BlackRock and Blackstone to support companies building AI infrastructure.\n\nThe initiative is expected to improve access to funding for companies requiring substantial capital to build GPU data centers, a positive development for firms such as IREN.\n\nInvestor sentiment has also been supported by a series of major AI infrastructure contracts across the industry.\n\nRiot Platforms recently announced a $9 billion agreement with Anthropic, while AI cloud provider CoreWeave reported second-quarter revenue of$2.6 billion, more than doubling from a year earlier.\n\nThe company also said its backlog had grown to $104 billion, underscoring robust demand for AI computing capacity.\n\n## Analysts remain optimistic\n\nWall Street analysts have largely maintained a positive outlook on IREN despite ongoing debate over its capital-intensive business model.\n\nBernstein SocGen Group recently reiterated its Outperform rating and $100 price target, implying more than 100% upside from current trading levels.\n\nThe brokerage said investors remain skeptical about whether former Bitcoin miners can successfully transform themselves into AI cloud providers, particularly companies like IREN that are investing heavily in owning and operating AI infrastructure rather than pursuing a lower-cost colocation leasing model.\n\nHowever, Bernstein argued that in an environment where AI computing capacity remains scarce, IREN's strategy could prove significantly more profitable.\n\nAccording to the firm, the company's AI cloud model could generate between $10 million and $20 million per megawatt, compared with roughly $2 million to $2.5 million per megawatt through traditional colocation leasing.\n\nThe brokerage also pointed to recent earnings from Nebius, saying they suggest IREN has opportunities to move further up the AI cloud value chain while narrowing its technology gap.\n\nLast month, the company announced new multi-year AI cloud contracts worth $2.8 billion and raised its 2026 year-end AI Cloud annual recurring revenue target to more than $4 billion from $3.7 billion.\n\nAbout 85% of that updated target, or approximately $3.4 billion, has already been contracted, including agreements with Microsoft, Nvidia, AI laboratories and a major unnamed AI developer.\n\nSeveral brokerages have since reaffirmed positive views on the stock.\n\nHC Wainwright maintained a Buy rating with a $90 price target, Compass Point reiterated Buy with a $105 target, while Citizens kept a Market Outperform rating and an $80 price target.\n\nGoldman Sachs maintained a Neutral rating with a $50 target, while Needham continued to rate the stock Hold.\n\nInvestors are now closely watching developments ahead of IREN's earnings report, due in just over a month.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/iren-stock-jumps-12-after-microsoft-horizon-1-delivery-nvidia-exemplar-cloud", "canonical_source": "https://cryptonews.net/news/finance/33292389/", "published_at": "2026-08-13 16:42:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-13 17:20:42.741547+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-chips", "ai-products"], "entities": ["IREN Ltd.", "Microsoft", "Nvidia", "Daniel Roberts", "Bernstein SocGen Group", "Riot Platforms", 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