This Bitcoin Miner Could Be Sitting On A $3B AI Opportunity, Says Jefferies

Jefferies stated that IREN's 6 GW power portfolio and major deals with Microsoft and Nvidia position it as an emerging AI infrastructure player.

• Once known primarily as a bitcoin miner, IREN is repositioning itself as an AI data center operator.
• Jefferies sees the transition driving substantial long-term value and initiated coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating and a $79 price target. 
• Earlier this month, IREN signed a transmission connection agreement for its first data center project in Australia.

Shares of IREN (IREN) rose nearly 4% in premarket trading on Thursday after Jefferies initiated coverage of the AI infrastructure and bitcoin mining company with a ‘Buy’ rating and a $79 price target. The firm believes that IREN’s AI pivot will unlock long-term value for shareholders.

According to Fly, Jefferies analyst Jonathan Petersen highlighted that IREN’s massive 6 GW powered land bank and flexible data center ownership give it a “unique” edge. 

He also noted that contracts with Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) could support roughly $3.1 billion in annual recurring revenue, while ownership of both land and data center assets provides flexibility to serve customers ranging from powered-shell tenants to full-scale GPU cloud deployments.