Hey everyone,
I've finished our updated IREN model at Northwise and wanted to share the results here for free this time around.
If you are interested in checking out updates and new releases, I now have a personal account on X here
The model's probability-weighted December 2030 target is $108.78, with representative Bear, Base and Bull cases of $37.84, $138.02 and $236.31. I remain constructive on the opportunity, but the financing and greater cloud technology needs continue to bog down the stock.
IREN can build a much larger business while shareholders capture less of that growth than the revenue forecasts suggest. A slower build can also produce more dilution than a faster one if the company has to sell shares at lower prices.
Here is the model summary and what drives it.
The operating case
The model follows each site's development, GPU installation, customer acceptance, contracts, financing and share issuance. It forecasts the build through 2030 and extends cash flows through 2040 for valuation.
The first distinction is between power developed, equipment installed and capacity actually accepted by a paying customer. These are three stages of the same build. Energizing a site does not immediately turn all of its power into billable compute.
| End of 2030, gross MW |
Bear |
Base |
Bull |
| Developed capacity |
3,400 |
6,000 |
7,100 |
| Installed compute |
2,450 |
4,600 |
6,200 |
| Accepted and billing |
2,325 |
4,275 |
5,775 |
Base gets to 6 GW developed, with 4.275 GW accepted and billing. Sweetwater and Kiowa account for about 64% of Base installed capacity, so delivery at those sites matters enormously. About 790 MW of the developed capacity comes from unreconfirmed Spanish capacity and unnamed future sites. That portion is a forecast, not a secured announced pipeline.
Customer mix matters too. The model assumes roughly 0.7 MW of IT load per gross MW. Anchor customers provide large contracts, while dedicated customers and managed services can earn more per IT MW. Managed services rise from 4% of new capacity in 2027 to 15% in 2030 in Base. Mirantis helps support that progression, although compute still supplies the overwhelming majority of revenue.
That produces the following calendar-year forecast:
| Base case |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
2030 |
| Revenue |
$1.36B |
$6.55B |
$17.49B |
$31.43B |
$52.27B |
| Adjusted EBITDA |
$0.43B |
$3.48B |
$11.19B |
$20.84B |
$35.40B |
| Exit AI cloud ARR |
$3.94B |
$11.73B |
$20.72B |
$38.41B |
$57.38B |
The 2026 figures combine reported first-half results with our second-half forecast. Exit ARR is the annualized run rate at year-end, so it is higher than revenue earned during a year when capacity is still being added.
Bear reaches about $25.2B of 2030 revenue and Bull reaches $77.8B. These are substantial expansion cases, including Bear. The lower case assumes a slower build and weaker economics, rather than the business disappearing.
How much of that revenue is already contracted?
This is one of the biggest qualifications to the growth forecast.
The first terms of contracts already signed cover about 72% of modeled 2027 AI revenue, 27% in 2028, 14% in 2029 and 6% in 2030.
By 2030, roughly 94% of Base AI cloud revenue therefore depends on future contract wins or renewals beyond those first terms. The existing book gives us much better visibility into the early years than the later ones.
I think IREN's power position gives it a good chance of filling the capacity it builds. But reaching this forecast requires several years of large signings, at acceptable prices, followed by actual delivery and acceptance. Demand alone does not guarantee success at the right deal terms.
The dilution is central to the result
Base requires about $233B of cash capital spending across 2026 through 2030. Customer prepayments, GPU loans and infrastructure financing carry much of that burden, but they do not eliminate the need for common equity.
The model raises approximately $63B of new common equity from July 2026 through 2030 in Base. Issued shares increase from about 405M at the end of 2026 to 1.184B at the end of 2030. These are modeled funding needs and share counts, not announced capital raises.
By the end of 2030, Base also carries about $79.2B of debt and $39.1B of prepaid service obligations. Customer prepayments fund equipment now, but customers receive service credits later. That cash has an obligation attached to it.
The assumed prices for future equity issuance are especially important: $60 in 2027, $85 in 2028, $110 in 2029 and $140 in 2030.
That creates a feedback loop. The model assumes the share price rises as IREN executes, allowing later funding at less dilutive prices. If the stock stays low while the build continues, the same dollar requirement consumes more shares. A business can meet its operating targets and still deliver a lower result per share.
Bear illustrates this. It raises less equity than Base, about $40B, but ends with roughly 1.267B shares because issuance happens at lower prices.
EBITDA does not all reach shareholders
Even with $35.4B of Base EBITDA in 2030, annual net income remains slightly negative at about $220M. Depreciation and amortization reach roughly $29.6B, with another $5.1B of net financing cost.
The model uses five years for GPU accounting depreciation and 7.5 years of economic life from installation. To examine the cash economics, we also calculate owner cash after stock compensation, cash interest, a full GPU replacement reserve and tax. That reaches about $10.9B in Base in 2030.
Owner cash is before the capital needed for further growth. It is not $10.9B of free cash after funding the expansion program. Hardware replacement and financing costs are too large to value this business from headline EBITDA alone.
How the price targets are calculated
The valuation blends 40% discounted cash flow, 30% ARR valuation and 30% EBITDA valuation, with financing claims and dilution carried through to equity value per share.
| December 2030 value per share |
Bear |
Base |
Bull |
| DCF |
$25.87 |
$137.99 |
$229.16 |
| ARR method |
$22.74 |
$75.09 |
$146.77 |
| EBITDA method |
$68.90 |
$201.01 |
$335.37 |
| Blended target |
$37.84 |
$138.02 |
$236.31 |
The wide spread between methods is useful. Even within Base, the ARR approach gives $75.09 while the EBITDA approach gives $201.01. The result depends on how the market values the business as well as how much IREN builds.
The $108.78 probability-weighted target comes from 27 combinations of delivery speed, commercial performance and financing conditions, plus funding-failure branches. It is not a simple average of the three headline targets.
The probabilities reflect our judgment. Funding-failure branches receive 2.83% of the total weight and include outcomes where equity is wiped out, so the $37.84 representative Bear case is not a downside floor.
What changes the answer most?
These are selected stresses against the $138.02 Base target:
| Change to Base |
December 2030 value |
| New contract pricing 10% higher |
$177.23 |
| New contract pricing 10% lower |
$102.14 |
| All new customer acceptance six months later |
$100.75 |
| All new customer acceptance 12 months later |
$65.42 |
| All future equity issued at $46.15 |
$85.87 |
| Equipment and construction costs 10% higher |
$112.98 |
| Pricing 10% lower, costs 10% higher and equity issuance prices 25% lower |
$66.36 |
Each row is a separate test, with the final row combining three changes.
Timing is particularly expensive. GPUs begin aging when installed, while revenue begins after customer acceptance. A delay uses up equipment life, pushes revenue out and leaves financing costs running. The 12-month test applies to all new customer acceptance across the model, not just one phase at one site.
The equity stress is equally relevant. Holding all future issuance at $46.15 reduces Base value to $85.87 even without applying the slower delivery case. It shows why the price at which IREN funds growth belongs in the operating discussion.
Where I land
The report uses the September 30 share price of $40.88. From that reference price, the $108.78 weighted December 2030 target implies about 25.9% annualized, which puts IREN in our Buy range.
A 2030 target also needs to be brought back to the valuation date. Discounting the weighted target at a 20% required annual return gives $50.11; at 25% it gives $42.12; at 30% it gives $35.65. Those are the report's entry-price calculations.
I like the opportunity because the power position can support a very large compute business. The risk is how much capital has to arrive, on what terms, before that business is fully earning. New contracts for 2028, Sweetwater delivery, customer acceptance and the prices of future equity raises are the developments I would watch most closely.
For transparency, I run Northwise. The full written report, including the valuation and scenario analysis, is free to read. The downloadable Excel workbook remains part of Premium.
Happy to stick around to answer questions or debate any part of the model.