IREN shares surge 10.17% intraday after securing $9.7B Microsoft AI cloud contract and expanding GPU capacity.

IREN surged 10.17% intraday after announcing a $9.7 billion AI cloud contract with Microsoft and filing a $660.975 million ESOP-related share offering. The news highlighted IREN’s strategic pivot from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure, with Microsoft’s prepayment validating its capacity and growth potential. Analysts cited the company’s renewable-powered data centers and 2.91 GW secured power portfolio as key differentiators, while Bernstein raised its price target to $75. The Microsoft deal, coupled with Nvidia preferred partner status and a $1.63 billion equity raise, underscored IREN’s transition to a vertically integrated AI cloud provider. These developments aligned with rising demand for AI compute and tokenization trends, reinforcing bullish sentiment despite execution risks.