IREN’s Childress campus in Texas, which is set to house liquid-cooled NVIDIA systems for Microsoft, is running late. Network changes requested by Microsoft to support newer artificial intelligence models, along with equipment shortages and a generator fire, could push phases 2 through 4 from the first quarter of 2027 into the second quarter of 2027. These four phases, named Horizons by IREN, each represent 50 MW and form part of an approximately $9.7 billion five-year cloud services contract; the first was accepted in August 2026. Microsoft attributed to the delays a $5 billion reduction in its 2026 capital expenditure forecast and announced tighter oversight of partners and a renewed focus on owned capacity. IREN’s shares fell by roughly 18% to 19%, highlighting execution risks for companies that provide artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure.
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