IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) Shares Down 4.8% – Here’s What Happened

IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN)’s stock price was down 4.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $43.18 and last traded at $45.91. Approximately 38,001,733 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 38,702,734 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.24.

IREN News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting IREN this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major commercial catalyst — a new Microsoft AI deal plus an employee share plan were reported as the immediate trigger boosting sentiment; the Microsoft contract (widely cited as ~ $1.9B ARR in coverage) adds visible, long-term contracted demand for IREN’s AI compute capacity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Power/security moat — analysis highlights IREN’s uncommon asset base in West Texas: pre‑secured grid interconnections and land that enable fast, gigawatt-scale AI cluster builds (2.8 GW of secured power cited), supporting a strong upside case if demand materializes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Transition story & margin thesis — bullish write-ups argue IREN is shifting from bitcoin mining to higher-quality AI cloud revenues, with management targets for multi‑billion run‑rate revenue and high project EBITDA margins (management targets cited). That narrative underpins longer-term revenue visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Relative growth pitch — some retail/investor commentary positions IREN as a faster‑growing alternative to larger, slower incumbents in the data‑center/AI infrastructure space, supporting a growth premium argument. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Volatility and narrative risk — coverage notes IREN’s stock can be volatile as it re-rates into an AI/data‑center narrative; investors should expect swings tied to contract news, build execution and crypto/data‑center demand shifts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector overlap & speculation — broader pieces on crypto miners and miners pivoting to data centers flag that the space remains speculative and dependent on successful execution and stable demand from hyperscalers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is elevated — analysts note a high P/S multiple (reported ~24.1x) which keeps the stock in “hold” territory for some, implying upside is tied to continued revenue conversion and margin delivery. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on IREN. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on IREN in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Arete Research initiated coverage on shares of IREN in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of IREN in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of IREN in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of IREN from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.64.

IREN Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 5.52, a current ratio of 5.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55 and a beta of 4.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.01.

IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.48). IREN had a net margin of 86.96% and a negative return on equity of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $240.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.60 million. The company’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that IREN Limited will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IREN

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in IREN by 1.1% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 31,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in IREN by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in IREN during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. SLT Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of IREN by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. SLT Holdings LLC now owns 10,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of IREN in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 41.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About IREN

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.