IREN and Microsoft are teaming up, and the latter is at record highs in response
IREN Ltd (NASDAQ:IREN) is putting the data center sector on notice today, after the former Bitcoin (BTC) mining company inked a five-year $9.7 billion cloud infrastructure deal with Microsoft (MSFT) to utilize Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs. Cantor Fitzgerald called the deal a "gamechanger."
At last check, IREN was up 19% to trade at $72.27, on track for its biggest single-session gain in nearly a year. The stock earlier hit a record high of $75.73, and is now up 638% in 2025, with support in place at the 30-day moving average.
A short squeeze could be powering today's breakout. Short interest increased by 36% in the most recent reporting period, and the 48.12 million shares sold short account for 18.5% of IREN's total available float.
While calls outnumber puts on an absolute basis, the rate of put buying has picked up lately. On the International Securities (ISE), Cboe Options (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 10-day put/call ratio of 0.54 sits in the 89th percentile of annual readings.
Today though, is a different story. At last check, 110,000 calls have changed hands, volume that's double the average intraday amount and nearly triple the number of puts exchanged. The weekly 11/7 108-strike call is the most popular, while the standard expiration November 75 call is also seeing notable activity.