IREN's AI Pivot: Genius or Just Another Pump and Dump?
Okay, let's get this straight. IREN, a bitcoin mining company, is now suddenly an AI powerhouse? Give me a break. This whole thing stinks of desperation and a desperate grab for investor attention. The stock's up 500%? Yeah, and I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you. How This Bitcoin Miner Surged 500% On Its AI Power Pivot - Investor's Business Daily
From Crypto Dust to AI Gold?
So, they're "repurposing" their bitcoin mining sites for AI. Right. It's like turning a rusty old pickup truck into a Formula One race car. Sure, you could do it, but should you? And will it actually work? Kent Draper, IREN's Chief Commercial Officer, claims this was a "long-term strategy from day one." Oh, really? Because last time I checked, they were neck-deep in crypto. I’m sure he believes that…
They're touting a $9.7 billion AI cloud contract with Microsoft. Nine. Point. Seven. BILLION. Okay, slow down. How much of that is real, and how much is vaporware? I'm not saying it's impossible, but let's see some actual revenue before we start popping champagne, alright? Remember WeWork? Massive valuations, lots of hype, and then…poof.
And get this: they’re running AI workloads in the same data halls where they used to mine Bitcoin. Talk about a glow-up. Suddenly, all that energy-guzzling infrastructure isn't a liability; it's an "asset." Clever marketing, I'll give them that. But is it sustainable? The Electric Power Research Institute says data centers could consume 9% of the nation's electricity by 2030. Where's all that power gonna come from? Solar panels and unicorn farts?
The Reality Distortion Field
IREN's earnings are due on Nov. 6th. They're projecting a 15-cent gain versus a 27-cent loss last year. Revenue projected to climb 344%. Numbers, numbers, numbers. I'm not buying it. This whole thing feels like a carefully orchestrated PR campaign designed to pump up the stock price before... well, before something inevitably goes wrong. The stock found "support" at its 21-day line and is trying to establish itself above $60. Technical analysis? More like technical bullshit. Lines on a chart don't mean a damn thing if the underlying business is built on sand.
They claim to be expanding rapidly in AI cloud services, providing GPUs as a service. Okay, that's actually…smart. There's a huge demand for GPUs right now, and access to power IS becoming a constraint for AI development. IREN has land, power, and data centers. Maybe, just maybe, there's something real here. Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here.
IREN is focusing its capital expenditure on AI cloud services. Smart move, if true. But what about all that sunk cost in Bitcoin mining? Are they just writing that off? And what happens when the AI bubble inevitably bursts? Will they pivot to something else? Quantum computing? Fusion power?
