Research snapshot - Nov 8, 2026
Two bitcoin miners. Two very different AI businesses.
IREN and Cipher both started as bitcoin miners and now earn money from AI computing in different ways. Quarter ended Sep 30, 2026: IREN reported $200M of AI cloud revenue ($135M cloud services, $65M leasing); Cipher reported its first $5.9M of data-center lease revenue. Different revenue models, not a like-for-like comparison. Qualtix model run Nov 8, 2026: IREN business quality 67/100 with No Clean Valuation; Cipher 57/100, valued Very Expensive on trailing sales that largely precede its lease ramp.
Contracted is not reported: IREN targets more than $4B of annualized run-rate revenue (a yearly rate) by Jan 31, 2027; Cipher reports about $9.1B of total rent at Barber Lake over a 20-year lease (a multi-year total).
Funding: IREN held $3.5B of cash, $10.2B of debt and $2.5B of customer payments received in advance; Cipher held $656M of cash against $5.6B of borrowings.
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