IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts said that IREN looks forward to “building on this momentum with Microsoft” as the remaining Horizon deployments come online.
- IREN delivered Horizon 1, its first 50MW AI data center, to Microsoft under a five-year, $9.7 billion cloud services agreement.
- Horizon 1 is the first of four planned 50MW deployments at IREN’s Childress, Texas campus.
- The remaining three Microsoft Horizon deployments are expected to be delivered later this year.
Shares of IREN Limited (IREN), the Bitcoin (BTC) miner turned AI infrastructure provider, gained in morning trade on Thursday after the company said it delivered Horizon 1, its first AI data center, to Microsoft (MSFT).
The milestone comes alongside IREN achieving Nvidia’s (NVDA) ‘Exemplar Cloud’ status, adding another credential to the company’s growing AI infrastructure business.
IREN stock jumped as much as 7.2% in pre-market trade and was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. If gains hold, the share are on-track to hit a fresh one-month high.
“Delivering Horizon 1 demonstrates the strength of our vertically integrated model and our ability to execute complex AI infrastructure projects at speed and scale,” said Daniel Roberts, IREN’s co-founder and co-CEO.
Roberts added that IREN looks forward to “building on this momentum with Microsoft” as the remaining Horizon deployments come online.
IREN Delivers First 50MW AI Data Center To Microsoft
Horizon 1 is the first of four planned 50MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled AI Cloud deployments at IREN’s Childress, Texas campus.
The facility is part of a five-year, $9.7 billion cloud services agreement with Microsoft announced in November 2025. The remaining three 50MW deployments, Horizon 2 through Horizon 4, are expected to be delivered later this year.
MSFT stock edged 0.8% higher in morning trade amid a muted broader market, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the tech giant trending in the ‘bearish’ zone over the past day.
IREN said it remains on track to reach 480MW of gross AI Cloud capacity by the end of 2026, with a longer-term target of 1.2GW in 2027. The company’s expansion is part of a broader shift among Bitcoin miners toward AI infrastructure. This strategy has also been pursued by others like Core Scientific (CORZ), TeraWulf (WULF) and Cipher Mining (CIFR).
What Is Nvidia ‘Exemplar Cloud’ Status?
IREN also achieved Nvidia Exemplar Cloud status after Nvidia tested its GB300 NVL72 deployment at Horizon 1.
The designation indicates that IREN’s infrastructure has met Nvidia’s requirements for supporting demanding AI workloads. It could also strengthen the company’s position when competing for additional enterprise and hyperscaler customers beyond its existing Microsoft agreement.
NVDA stock moved 1.3% higher in morning trade, with retail sentiment around the AI bellwether trending in ‘neutral’ territory over the past day.
How Is Retail Feeling About IREN Stock?
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around IREN flipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘bearish’ over the past day, while chatter increased to ‘normal’ from ‘low’ levels.
While most users celebrated the win, one ‘bearish’ retail trader on the platform stated that while the company has a “bright future and good management,” IREN’s stock price is likely to dip after its earnings report at the end of August. Wall Street is expecting the company to report a loss of $0.46 per share on revenue of $140 million.
IREN stock has gained over 10% this year and more than doubled in the last 12 months.
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