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IREN Stops the Bleeding. Is It Time to Buy Again?

The AI data center boom has hit a speed bump. Over the past two weeks, fast-growing players like Nebius Group (NBIS) and Cipher Mining (CIFR) have been hammered, with shares plunging amid mounting fears that the explosive growth in AI infrastructure may not be sustainable long-term.

IREN (IREN), the renewable-powered Bitcoin miner-turned-AI cloud provider, has been no exception – down a sharp 36% from its recent all-time high as the sector digested broader concerns. Applied Digital's (APLD) fresh debt offering only amplified worries about dilutive financing and shaky balance sheets across the space.

Yet after a brutal sell-off, IREN has posted two consecutive days of solid gains. Has the bleeding finally stopped? And more importantly – is this dip screaming "buy" for a company uniquely positioned in a power-constrained world?

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Power Is the New Oil – and IREN Already Owns the Wells

The real story isn't the short-term noise; it's the structural scarcity unfolding in U.S. power markets. Morgan Stanley recently warned of a potential 45GW shortage for data centers, with new projects facing five- to seven- year delays just to secure grid connections if starting from scratch. In a recent Investor's Business Daily (IBD) interview, IREN Chief Commercial Officer Kent Draper drove this home: competitors scrambling today won't see meaningful new power online until 2030 or later.

IREN isn't scrambling. The company owns its land, substations, and power contracts outright – currently 2.9GW secured across Texas and Canada, with a clear path to 5GW or more by 2027. This isn't speculative; it's already under construction, as shown in drone footage of massive transformer deliveries and liquid-cooled builds at sites like Childress and Sweetwater. While hyperscalers and newcomers bid up scarce capacity, IREN's vertical integration delivers industry-low development costs and execution certainty.

From Bitcoin Miner to AI Powerhouse

Just weeks ago, IREN inked a $9.7 billion multi-year AI cloud deal with Microsoft (MSFT), leasing tens of thousands of high-end Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs for liquid-cooled HPC. This isn't a one-off – management is targeting $3.4 billion in AI cloud ARR by end-2026. Dual revenue streams (Bitcoin mining + AI cloud) provide downside protection, but the AI pivot is where the torque lies. As Draper emphasized in the IBD sit-down, IREN's renewable-powered, immediately available megawatts are becoming the ultimate moat in an industry where "it's not chips, it's watts."

Yes, IREN experiences short-term volatility as sector fears and macro swings create noise. But every dip below key support levels has proven to be a gift this year. With power scarcity only intensifying over the next five years, IREN remains one of the cleanest ways to play the AI infrastructure supercycle. If the stock resumes falling on broader market jitters, aggressive investors should back up the truck. The bleeding seems to have been staunched and the long-term breakout is just getting started.

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