IREN Limited (IREN (IREN)) shares climbed about 6% in Monday's premarket session, riding a wave of improving risk appetite that lifted growth stocks across the board. Nasdaq futures were up 1.11%, and S&P 500 futures gained 0.46%. The move came after a rough Thursday, when the stock closed down 10.39%.
But there's more to the story than just a market-wide bounce. According to a report from The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk, Anthropic — the AI company behind Claude — is looking to build a massive data center footprint Down Under. The company is seeking at least 1.4 gigawatts of capacity in a project valued at $12 billion to $15 billion. And IREN is on the shortlist.
The confidential tender includes IREN alongside CDC Data Centres, AirTrunk, NextDC, and Stack Infrastructure. Anthropic wants at least 1GW of operational capacity by the end of 2027, and it might split the project among several providers rather than picking just one. The report suggests that Infratil-owned CDC Data Centres is expected to get the largest slice if multiple contracts are awarded.
For IREN, which started life as a bitcoin miner and has been pivoting toward AI infrastructure, this is a big deal. It's a company-specific catalyst after a tough stretch for AI-focused bitcoin miners, which have been dealing with worries about rising competition, higher infrastructure costs, and growing funding needs. Monday's gains reflected both the broader market recovery and renewed optimism that IREN can play in the big leagues of AI data centers.
Traders also seemed to view last week's sell-off as a buying opportunity. But let's not get ahead of ourselves — the stock still has some technical hurdles to clear.
Technical Picture: Still Below Key Averages
Despite Monday's rebound, IREN remains below its major moving averages. It's trading 23.2% below its 20-day simple moving average, 24.9% below its 50-day SMA, 14.4% below its 100-day SMA, and 16.7% below its 200-day SMA. That's a lot of ground to make up.
Momentum indicators are cautious. The MACD is below its signal line with a negative histogram, suggesting buying momentum hasn't really kicked in yet. The 20-day SMA is below the 50-day SMA, which points to near-term weakness. On the brighter side, the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA following a golden cross in May, so the longer-term trend is still bullish. Key resistance is around $45.50, with support near $36.
Earnings and Analyst Views
IREN is expected to report earnings on August 27, 2026. Wall Street is looking for a loss of 38 cents per share on revenue of $165.16 million. That compares to a loss of 66 cents per share and revenue of $187.30 million a year earlier. The stock trades at about 50.4 times earnings — not cheap, but that's the AI infrastructure premium for you.
Analysts are still bullish. The consensus rating is Buy, with an average price target of $81.75. Recent moves include Jefferies initiating coverage with a Buy and a $79 target on June 18, Macquarie maintaining an Outperform with a $90 target on June 4, and B. Riley Securities raising its target to $96 while reiterating Buy on June 4.
Edge Rankings and ETF Exposure
MarketDash's Edge rankings give IREN a Momentum score of 90.82, which is strong despite the recent pullback. Its Value score of 21.73 suggests the stock is still trading at a premium relative to peers.
If you want exposure to IREN without buying the stock directly, the Global X Blockchain ETF (BKCH (BKCH)) allocates 11.45% of its portfolio to IREN. So fund flows into or out of that ETF can move the stock.
As of premarket Monday, IREN shares were up 6.08% at $41.18. It's a nice bounce, but the real story is whether IREN can turn that Anthropic shortlist into a contract. That would be a game-changer.
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