Iren will miss its year-end goal of bringing more than $4bn of operating ARR online, co-CEO Daniel Roberts said on the company's November 5 earnings call. He cited a customer design change outside the original scope and supplier timing. Microsoft asked for network infrastructure to be reconfigured after the Horizon 1 handover, to enable 200MW of capacity for latest-generation frontier models. Roberts is now targeting January, or the end of February if suppliers are late, and said the capex for the upgrades is immaterial. Once live, Iren will have 300MW operational, up from 100MW today.
Iren said capital markets have become more selective, and that questions have moved from contract size to whether capacity can be delivered, financed and run at a profit. Roberts said suppliers have been late across the industry this year, and Microsoft reported lower-than-expected capex because a number of neocloud deals were delayed. Iren's stock closed at $18.90 after the call, down from a November high of $25.00.
The headline names Microsoft, Iren and a Texas site, and reports a delivery delay to AI capacity. The main subject is a US site, so it is in scope. It is distinct from the already-published Nscale/Microsoft Texas item because it concerns a different company and a different design-change cause.