IREN pushes Microsoft data center revenue target to early 2026

The four-phase project is being built under a $9.7 billion contract with Microsoft. IREN delivered the first building in August, after which Microsoft requested what co-CEO Daniel Roberts described on an earnings call as relatively inexpensive changes to support the latest AI models.

“The data centers are practically done, and we’re waiting for remaining equipment to arrive to finish commissioning,” Roberts said. He added that IREN and Microsoft have a “great relationship.”

Microsoft said last week that delays from third-party cloud providers had left it spending $5 billion less than expected on AI infrastructure. The company did not name the providers; satellite images analyzed by research firm Aterio pointed to IREN and Nebius.

The setback comes as neocloud providers, which rent AI computing capacity to businesses, face concerns over power shortages and construction delays. Roberts said IREN is slowing its expansion plans because financing conditions have become tougher, although customer demand remains strong.

IREN shares fell sharply Thursday before rebounding in after-hours trading following its earnings report. The company posted quarterly revenue of $228 million and a net loss of $263 million.

Neoclouds are an important part of Nvidia’s customer base. Nvidia has backed many of these providers with investments and financial guarantees. They also give the chipmaker access to customers beyond major cloud companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which buy Nvidia chips while developing rival hardware.