Bitcoin Miner IREN Surges on Renewed AI Interest, Possible BTC Dividend Payment

The
shares
rose
30%
after
executives
discussed
fiscal
first-quarter
earnings
on
a
conference
call.

Nov
27,
2024,
4:58 p.m.

Bitcoin
miner
IREN
(IREN)
rose
nearly
30%
on
Wednesday
after
executives
said
the
company
had
received
interest
from
an
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
firm
and
mentioned
a
potential
dividend
in
BTC
during
an
earnings
conference
call.

The
Sydney-based
company
has
been
approached
by
a
hyperscaler
firm
(large
cloud
service
provider)
for
potentially
hosting
computing
infrastructure
at
IREN’s
Sweetwater
mining
site
in
Texas,
co-CEO
and
co-founder
Daniel
Roberts
said
on
the
call.

“Two
hours
ago,
we
got
an
email
from
a
trillion-dollar
hyperscaler
that
said
they
weren’t
interested
in
Sweetwater,
and
now
they
are,”
Roberts
said
without
giving
out
too
many
details.

“We
will
continue
not
to
provide
guidance
on
specific
terms
or
timing,
given
the
uncertainties.
Given
the
nature
that
we
are
dealing
with
counterparties,
it
is
not
all
within
our
control.
However,
we
continue
to
progress
negotiations
with
some
very
large
counterparties
and
hyperscalers,”
he
said.

IREN
is
one
of
many
miners
attempting
to
diversify
their
revenue
sources
by
securely
hosting
big
tech
companies’
data
centers
for
running
machines
to
support
surging
demand
for
AI
and
high-performance
computing
(HPC).
The
shift
started
earlier
this
year
after
Bitcoin’s
fourth
halving
cut
rewards
by
50%,
squeezing
miners’
profit
margins.
Rival
Core
Scientific
(CORZ)

started
the
trend
by
signing
AI
hosting
deals
for
billions
of
dollars,
leading
to
its
stock
price
surging
and
others
to
follow
suit.

Read
more:

Bitcoin
Miners
at
a
Crossroads:
Gain
Market
Share
or
Go
All-In
on
AI?

The
mining
company,
formerly
known
as
Iris
Energy,

appointed
Morgan
Stanley
in
July
to
potentially
monetize
its
mining
facilities
for
the
AI
data
center
market.
Its
share
price,
however,
languished
most
of
this
year
and
underperformed
peers
after
a

short
seller
said
one
of
its
sites
wasn’t
suitable
for
that
type
of
work.

Comments
from
the
conference
call
might
have
changed
market
perception
as
the
stock
outperformed
on
Wednesday.

‘Powerful’
cashflow

Executives
also
said
bitcoin’s
surge
to
near-record
highs
may
enable
the
company
to
pay
a
dividend.

“The
achievement
of
positive
operating
cash
flows
may
support
a
potential
for
investor
distribution
in
calendar
year
2025,”
CFO
Belinda
Nucifora
said.

The
move
would
likely
be
seen
as
positive
by
the
market,
as
many
investors
are
looking
to
gain
exposure
to
the
surging
bitcoin
price.
Aside
from
spot
buying,
traders
are
also
looking
to
buy
into
the
bull
market
through
either
exchange-traded
funds
or
publicly
traded
firms
such
as
MicroStrategy
(MSTR)
and
MARA
Holdings
(MARA)
that
are
purchasing
bitcoin.

With
IREN
mining
bitcoin
at
a
significantly
lower
cost
of
about
$29,000
compared
with
the
market
price
of
around
$96,000,
co-CEO
Roberts
said
the
company
has
opportunities
to
accumulate
BTC
at
discounted
prices,
as
opposed
to
other
companies
that
pay
spot
prices.

“When
you
look
at
the
market
today
and
you
see
a
number
of
different
companies
accumulating
bitcoin
on
their
balance
sheet,
paying
market
price
or
close,”
Roberts
said.
“I
think
the
opportunity
to
generate
$29,000-cash-cost
bitcoin
for
investors
and
effectively
distribute
that
coin
out
either
through
the
physical
coin
…
or
as
cash
flow
is
pretty
powerful,”
he
added.

Read
more:

Iren
Is
Positioned
to
Become
One
of
the
Biggest
Listed
Bitcoin
Miners:
Canaccord