IREN’s AI Push Runs Ahead of Riot’s Lease-Led Transition

IREN is further along in shifting from Bitcoin mining to AI computing than Riot Platforms, according to a Zacks comparison. IREN says its 2026 capacity is largely sold out, with more than $4 billion in contracted annualized revenue.

IREN has delivered the first 50-megawatt phase of a Microsoft deployment and is targeting three more phases for the December quarter. It plans to wind down Bitcoin mining by the end of 2026. But its fiscal 2027 capital spending forecast of $25 billion to $30 billion makes timely financing and construction central risks.

Riot is pursuing longer-term data center leases while maintaining its mining business. It has contracted 241 megawatts of capacity at Rockdale for AMD and a frontier AI lab, representing about $9.8 billion in contracted data center revenue. The first 25 megawatts for AMD were delivered, while the larger lab deployment is expected to begin in December 2027.

Riot’s mining revenue was $113.7 million in the second quarter of 2026. The company has also been selling Bitcoin to help fund data center development, leaving it exposed to Bitcoin prices and network difficulty.

Over the past three months, IREN shares fell 3.9% and Riot shares dropped 17.1%, while the S&P 500 rose 3.5%, according to the article. IREN traded at 4.06 times forward 12-month sales, compared with 10.95 times for Riot.

Zacks’ analysis favors IREN’s faster expected growth, while noting that Riot’s transition is more gradual and its major AI deployment comes later. Zacks consensus estimates project IREN sales growth of 332.62% in fiscal 2027 and 162.39% in 2028. For Riot, estimates call for sales growth of 3.82% in 2026 and 23.30% in 2027.