Iren's stock pulls back as investors assess the steep price of the AI buildout

By Hannah Pedone

Iren will take on debt in the wake of its new Nvidia partnership. One analyst says Monday's stock drop is an overreaction.

Shares of Iren were down 10% on Monday.

Investors were initially excited about Iren's new deal with Nvidia, but now they seem to be coming to terms with the cost of rapid artificial-intelligence expansion.

Shares of Iren (IREN) took a hit Monday after the neocloud company announced its intention to offer $2 billion in convertible debt, due in 2033.

The offering comes after the company announced last week that it will collaborate with Nvidia (NVDA) to deploy 5 gigawatts of infrastructure. The chip giant secured a five-year right to purchase 30 million Iren shares, in an investment valued at up to $2.1 billion.

Iren shares rose 7.7% in Friday trading following the Nvidia announcement but slid about 10% on Monday in the wake of the debt-related press release.

Read more: Iren's stock soars as a major Nvidia investment overshadows revenue shortfall

Freedom Capital Markets analyst Paul Meeks told MarketWatch that Monday's move was an "overreaction to the downside."

The stock is "super volatile because [Iren] has to spend heavily," he said, adding that Iren "is not going to make money for years, so it probably goes too far in either direction on any reported news."

Morningstar analyst Luke Yang said in an interview that Iren is still at the beginning stages of its AI-cloud buildout.

He expects the company to require "tens of billions more funding" in order to ramp up its data-center capacities in Texas, Oklahoma and British Columbia.

He said it's not uncommon for neoclouds like Iren to see a stock move like the one on Monday.

See also: As Nvidia earnings draw closer, here are 5 things investors need to watch

-Hannah Pedone

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-11-26 2115ET