Key Highlights

• IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN) surged over 13% after the Australian Financial Review reported Anthropic is seeking 1.4+ gigawatts of Australian data center capacity.

• IREN is named among bidders alongside CDC Data Centres, AirTrunk, NextDC, and Stack Infrastructure for the $12 to $15 billion project.

• Bernstein reiterated a Buy rating with a $100 target, with a consensus average target of $82.36 across 14 Buy-rated analysts.

IREN Limited surged over 13% as a company-specific catalyst reignited investor enthusiasm following a report from the Australian Financial Review indicating that Anthropic is seeking at least 1.4 gigawatts of Australian data center capacity as part of a $12 to $15 billion project.

According to the report, IREN is named among a shortlist of bidders for the project, alongside CDC Data Centres, AirTrunk, NextDC, and Stack Infrastructure. Being named on such a shortlist for a project of this scale represents a significant potential catalyst for a company of IREN's size.

The move follows a difficult stretch for the AI-focused bitcoin miner, which had faced a nine-session losing streak tied to governance concerns, including an $800 million founder equity package and a costly Warriors sponsorship that had drawn scrutiny from investors concerned about capital allocation discipline.

Despite those governance concerns, Wall Street sentiment toward IREN remains broadly constructive. Bernstein reiterated a Buy rating with a $100 price target, and the stock carries a consensus average target of $82.36 across 14 Buy-rated analysts, indicating substantial underlying analyst confidence even through the recent governance-driven weakness.

The Anthropic data center report offers IREN a concrete, company-specific catalyst that stands apart from the governance concerns weighing on the stock, giving investors a fresh reason to reassess the company's growth prospects within the broader AI infrastructure buildout theme.

Looking ahead, the outcome of the Anthropic bidding process, expected to unfold over the coming months, will be a critical catalyst for IREN, with a successful bid potentially providing the company with a multi-year source of contracted revenue.

Australia's broader push to attract large-scale data center investment, driven in part by its renewable energy resources and grid capacity in select regions, has positioned the country as an increasingly competitive location for major AI infrastructure projects.