IREN, CoreWeave and Nebius Stocks Plunge on AI Jitters

Shares of IREN, CoreWeave and Nebius fell sharply this week, wiping out billions of dollars in market value as investors pointed to uncertainty over AI spending, increased competition for large-scale compute, rising debt burdens and high short interest. The losses followed months of volatility for firms tied to AI-focused cloud infrastructure.

IREN dropped to $33.61, its lowest level since April 7 and roughly 52% below its peak this year, trimming its valuation from about $24 billion to $12.4 billion. CoreWeave fell to $72 from an all-time high near $186, reducing its market capitalization from around $87 billion to $39 billion. Nebius declined from $298 to $170. Other companies connected to the sector, including Bitcoin miners that have repurposed hardware for AI workloads, have also experienced steep declines in recent months.

Investors have cited uncertainty about how much major cloud operators will increase AI compute capacity as a key factor. Several chip and memory suppliers reported accelerating demand in recent quarters, but market participants are awaiting quarterly reports from large cloud customers such as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google that could clarify planned AI spending.

Competition for GPU and data-center capacity has intensified. SpaceX has signed large capacity contracts with AI companies, with reported monthly payments ranging from the hundreds of millions to more than $1 billion in some agreements. Reports that Meta Platforms may sell surplus data-center capacity and entries by public miners and other new providers have added suppliers to the market for large-scale GPU access.

Debt levels and the prospect of equity offerings have been additional concerns. CoreWeave’s short-term debt is about $7.5 billion and long-term debt about $17.3 billion. Nebius increased long-term borrowings to roughly $8.4 billion from $4.1 billion in December. IREN’s debt has risen to more than $3.6 billion this year. Market participants have noted that these companies may seek capital to fund ongoing data-center construction and GPU purchases.

Short sellers have been active in these names. Short interest is near 21.3% of IREN’s float, about 18% for CoreWeave and roughly 27% for Nebius. The combination of elevated borrowing, potential share issuance and concentrated short positions has contributed to stock volatility.

Several of the companies have received investments or strategic support from chipmaker Nvidia. Market observers say the firms face large upfront capital costs to build facilities and buy GPUs before revenue from AI workloads scales. Traders and investors are watching upcoming earnings and spending announcements from major cloud customers for clearer signals about demand for AI infrastructure.