IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $39.75, but opened at $43.59. IREN shares last traded at $43.3720, with a volume of 11,412,535 shares traded.

Key Stories Impacting IREN

Here are the key news stories impacting IREN this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft formally accepted IREN’s first 50-megawatt Horizon 1 AI cloud deployment at the Childress, Texas campus. The installation is the first of four planned 50MW deployments, marking a significant execution milestone and potentially enabling the associated customer revenue to ramp. IREN Delivers Horizon 1 to Microsoft and Achieves NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud Status on GB300 NVL72
• Positive Sentiment: IREN also achieved NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud status for its GB300 NVL72 platform. The designation may improve customer confidence in IREN’s high-performance, liquid-cooled AI computing capabilities and help it compete for additional enterprise workloads. IREN stock jumps after Microsoft Horizon 1 delivery and Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish on IREN’s AI pivot. Bernstein reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $100 price target, while a separate analysis cited a $72.25 target and projected contracted annual recurring revenue could rise from approximately $4 billion in 2026 to $10 billion by 2028. These forecasts depend on successful capacity expansion and execution. Bernstein reiterates Buy rating on IREN
• Positive Sentiment: Strong results and outlooks from AI infrastructure peers CoreWeave and Nebius recently lifted sentiment across the neocloud sector, increasing investor confidence that demand for AI compute and data-center capacity remains robust. Why Is IREN Stock Surging on Wednesday?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on IREN. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of IREN in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of IREN from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of IREN in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $79.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of IREN in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Compass Point restated a “buy” rating on shares of IREN in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

IREN Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.25 and a beta of 4.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.75 and a 200 day moving average of $46.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IREN

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IREN. Marex Group plc increased its holdings in shares of IREN by 14,216.7% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,471,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,032 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in IREN during the fourth quarter worth $158,677,000. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new stake in IREN during the fourth quarter worth $137,075,000. Situational Awareness LP grew its position in IREN by 90.1% during the second quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 6,400,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,254,000 after buying an additional 3,034,254 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in IREN by 1,022.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 2,870,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,424,000 after buying an additional 2,614,835 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.08% of the company’s stock.

IREN Company Profile

IREN Limited, formerly known as Iris Energy Limited, owns and operates bitcoin mining data centers. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.