Following the trail blazed by peers and competitors Nebius Group and CoreWeave, shares of AI cloud computing service provider IREN (IREN -3.12%) soared nearly 10% on Wednesday. The move may well mark the beginning of a prolonged advance too.
Industrywide tailwind
After strong performances in 2024 and 2025, artificial intelligence data center stocks have clearly cooled off in 2026. But understandably so. Investors are beginning to wonder whether the reported opportunity that's driving so much infrastructure investment will actually materialize as hoped.
Perhaps that doesn't need to be a concern after all.
Image source: Getty Images.
That's what CoreWeave's second-quarter numbers reported after Tuesday's closing bell suggest anyway. Revenue improved 112% year over year for the three months ending in June, doubling EBITDA as a result. Its backlog also grew to $104 billion, prompting yet-another round of raised revenue guidance that exceeds analysts' full-year outlook.
Nebius Group joined the party on Wednesday morning, reporting a Q2 top line of $582.3 million that obliterated the year-earlier comparison of $105.1 million. This growth also dramatically reduced its adjusted net loss, from $91.5 million in the second quarter of 2025 to a loss of only $33.2 million this time around. Analysts expect this year's top line to reach $722.8 million, up nearly 42% from 2025's sales, en route to roughly $3 billion next year once the company's current capital investments begin generating meaningful revenue.
Given the growth that Nebius and CoreWeave are still experiencing, investors are reasonably assuming that rival IREN is plugged into the same underestimated tailwind.
Just the nudge the stock needed
Any 10% single-day gain is a tough act to follow; don't be surprised if IREN shares fall back a bit tomorrow.
NASDAQ: IREN
Key Data Points
Still down 36% from its late-May peak, however -- and still priced at nearly half of analysts' consensus price target of $84.64 -- today's gain is arguably more of an indication of what likely awaits rather than a volatility-driven fluke.
Just be sure you're ready for that volatility if you're going to dive in. It's unlikely to abate even if the stock continues to make meaningful bullish progress from here.
