Iren (IREN) closed down 0.56% at $30.39 after initially plunging below $27 following Gartner's warning that over 80% of neocloud providers could cease independent operations by 2030 and $3.5 trillion in AI infrastructure investments could be at risk. The stock recovered somewhat as investors recognized Iren has about half its GPU capex funded through customer prepayments, suggesting company-specific resilience versus sector-wide concerns.

Applied Digital reported Q1 fiscal 2027 revenues surging 322% to $341.9 million, beating estimates, but posted a wider loss per share of 76 cents, missing expectations. Despite a $36 billion contracted revenue base and improving adjusted EBITDA, the company faces challenges from widening GAAP losses, $6.4 billion in debt, heavy capital requirements, and uncertainty around AI demand. The stock trades at a premium valuation of 7.76X sales versus the industry's 2.48X multiple and has underperformed peers over the past year.

Applied Digital (APLD) has a substantial $36 billion contracted revenue base across 1.41 GW of capacity, with over 600 MW expected online within 12 months. However, the company faces significant financing and construction risks, while competitors Core Scientific and TeraWulf are rapidly narrowing APLD's contracted-revenue lead with $24B and $27B in contracted revenues respectively. APLD carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) rating with a premium valuation and widening projected losses.

Eric Stanton Weiss, a Director at Core Scientific, purchased 7,000 shares on August 18, 2026, at a weighted-average price of $19.19 per share, bringing his total holdings to 259,262 shares. The insider purchase signals confidence in the company's future prospects, particularly given the stock's strong 30% performance over the past 12 months and bullish analyst sentiment with 94% buy ratings and a median price target of $36.

TeraWulf Inc. secured a landmark 20-year lease agreement with Anthropic worth an estimated $19 billion, transitioning from volatile cryptocurrency mining to stable, high-margin AI infrastructure hosting. The company sold its stake in the Abernathy Joint Venture for $450 million to fund the 401-megawatt Justified Data campus in Kentucky. This shift from unpredictable mining rewards (~$87,000/MW/month) to utility-grade AI workloads (~$149,000/MW/month) fundamentally improves margins and revenue visibility, while high institutional ownership and elevated short interest create potential for significant price appreciation.

Leopold Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness LP fund has doubled its equity exposure to $13.68B, positioning heavily in physical AI infrastructure and energy suppliers while hedging semiconductor exposure. The fund's thesis argues that power and electricity, not chips, represent the real bottleneck for AI scaling. The portfolio employs a barbell strategy: aggressive longs in energy infrastructure (Bloom Energy, Bitcoin miners turned AI operators) and optical components, combined with significant put hedges on semiconductor names to protect against potential sector rotation.

U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday following Wednesday's record rally, with President Trump celebrating all-time high stock market gains and strong job growth. Key movers included Fortinet gaining 12.76% on strong earnings, while Beyond Meat and Whirlpool declined significantly. BlackRock maintains a pro-risk stance on U.S. equities, citing strong corporate earnings momentum and AI revenue growth.

Leopold Aschenbrenner, a 24-year-old former OpenAI researcher, launched Situational Awareness LP hedge fund with $225 million based on his thesis that AI's primary constraint would be power supply. His $875 million position in Bloom Energy Corp., accumulated throughout 2025, has grown to approximately $2.21 billion as the market recognized the AI power crunch. The fund has grown to roughly $5.5 billion in about a year, with Bloom Energy shares gaining nearly 24% on Tuesday following an expanded fuel cell deal with Oracle.

Kintayl Capital sold 495,390 shares of Core Scientific (CORZ) worth $8.64 million in Q4 2025, reducing its stake from 6.3% to 0.66% of AUM. Despite the fund's exit, Core Scientific shares have surged 84% over the past year. The company is transitioning from unprofitable self-mining to higher-margin colocation services, though adjusted EBITDA remains negative and Q4 revenue declined year-over-year.

Covalis (Gibraltar) Ltd invested $30.29 million in Core Scientific, acquiring 2,080,550 shares in Q4 2025. The investment reflects Core Scientific's strategic pivot from bitcoin mining toward AI data centers and high-density colocation services, with the company scaling toward 1.5 gigawatt of leasable capacity. Colocation revenue surged to $65 million in 2025 from $24 million in 2024, positioning the company as an AI infrastructure play.

Core Scientific completed a $500 million 364-day loan facility from Morgan Stanley to fund data center expansion, with an accordion feature allowing up to $1 billion total. However, the company missed Q4 earnings expectations with an adjusted loss of 29 cents versus 18 cents consensus, and revenue fell to $79.76 million from $94.9 million. The stock declined 3.85% on Thursday despite the financing announcement, trading below key moving averages with bearish technical indicators.

Clearline Capital LP increased its stake in Core Scientific by 3.4 million shares worth approximately $59.91 million. The investment reflects a strategic shift in Bitcoin mining toward data center infrastructure, where access to reliable power and efficient facilities have become the primary competitive advantage following the recent Bitcoin halving.