IREN shares pop 13% on AI infrastructure deal with Nvidia

IREN's stock experienced a remarkable 13% increase during after-hours trading on Thursday, triggered by the announcement of a strategic alliance with Nvidia, a leader in semiconductor technology. The partnership will see the deployment of up to 5 gigawatts of Nvidia's DSX-branded infrastructure, specifically designed to support artificial intelligence applications across IREN's global data center facilities. As part of the agreement, IREN has granted Nvidia a five-year option to acquire up to 30 million shares of its common stock, priced at $70 per share. This collaboration enables Nvidia the opportunity to invest up to $2.1 billion in IREN. Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, emphasized the significance of this collaboration, stating, "AI factories are becoming foundational infrastructure for the global economy. Deploying these systems at scale requires deep integration across the full stack — compute, networking, software, power, and operations." This partnership aligns with Nvidia's recent trend of forging similar multibillion-dollar agreements with other companies, including Coherent, Lumentum, and Corning earlier this week.