IREN vs Modal

AMD Stands Out as AI Trade Fractures

As the AI trade shows signs of cracking, with recent selloffs in CoreWeave and IREN and growing concerns about AI infrastructure spending, CNBC's Options Action contributor Michael Khouw identifies Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as a standout investment opportunity. Despite AMD's 8.1% drop following Meta's financing plans and a supply warning from Lam Research, Khouw's quantitative screen highlights AMD as the only major chipmaker meeting all criteria for outperformance. These criteria include price above the 200-day moving average, revenue and EPS growth exceeding S&P 500 benchmarks, rating upgrades, PEG below 3, and strong ROE/ROIC. Consensus estimates for Q3 2026 project EPS of $1.94 on revenue of $13.06 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 62% and 41% respectively. CEO Lisa Su recently announced plans to substantially increase supply in 2027 to meet surging AI demand. The article also discusses an options strategy—a call spread risk reversal—to manage the high implied volatility around earnings.

• AMD's stock dropped 8.1% due to Meta's financing plans and a supply warning from Lam Research.
• Consensus expects AMD Q3 2026 EPS of $1.94 on revenue of $13.06 billion.
• AMD's year-over-year growth is projected at 62% for EPS and 41% for revenue.

10-K Financial Filing Analysis for IREN (2026-08-27)

IREN Limited filed its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, detailing its strategic transition from Bitcoin mining toward high-density AI Cloud Services and data center infrastructure. The company reported substantial business transformation, holding ~40MW of operational AI Cloud capacity alongside 23.2 EH/s (~380MW) of Bitcoin mining capacity earmarked for substantial decommissioning and reallocation to AI workloads by December 31, 2026. For FY 2026, IREN recorded a net loss of $702.6 million, compared to net income of $86.9 million in FY 2025, driven by intensive capital investments, hardware procurement, and expanding debt obligations. The company closed significant capital initiatives, including $3.6 billion in secured GPU debt financing in May 2026, and entered a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA enabling up to 5GW of DSX-aligned AI infrastructure deployments.

• IREN incurred a consolidated net loss of $702.6 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, compared to a net income of $86.9 million for the prior fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.
• Total outstanding indebtedness as of June 30, 2026, reached $7,976.0 million (comprising $7,705.6 million in debt and $270.4 million in finance leases), supported in part by a $3.6 billion GPU financing program executed in May 2026.
• The company secured grid-connected power capacity representing approximately 5GW across North America, Europe, and Australia, while operating ~40MW of AI Cloud capacity and targeting completion of its Bitcoin mining phase-out by December 31, 2026.

JPMorgan Double Upgrades IREN Stock on Nvidia Deal

JPMorgan double upgraded IREN, an AI infrastructure and data center company, from underweight to overweight, raising its price target to $65 from $46. Analyst Richard Choe cited IREN's strategic partnership with Nvidia and improved pricing power for neocloud contracts, now valued at $15-$20 per watt compared to previous $10-$15. IREN, formerly a bitcoin miner, plans substantial capex but JPMorgan believes higher-priced contracts will be accretive. The upgrade aligns with consensus as 14 of 17 analysts rate the stock a buy or strong buy.

• JPMorgan upgraded IREN to overweight from underweight, price target $65.
• IREN struck a five-year AI cloud deal with Nvidia valued at over $3 billion in May.
• JPMorgan sees IREN as a top-tier neocloud provider.

Modal Hits $1B ARR, Raises $750M Series D at $15.75B Valuation

Modal, an AI infrastructure startup, has achieved a $1 billion annualized run rate and raised a $750 million Series D at a $15.75 billion valuation, led by Accel. CEO Erik Bernhardsson noted that usage has tripled since the Series C and grown over 15x year-over-year. The company's Sandboxes product, launched in 2023, now generates $300 million in run rate (about a third of revenue), with nearly three billion spun up and scaling to a million concurrent. Modal aggregates demand from thousands of customers to offer elastic GPU capacity across nearly 25 cloud providers, moving away from fixed-term contracts and exploring NVIDIA alternatives. Key focuses include agentic workloads, GPU price declines, and future plans for training and batch products. CTO Akshat Bubna also emphasized the growing need for 'millions of concurrent sandboxes' and advanced infrastructure for AI agents.

• Modal raised a $750M Series D at a $15.75B valuation, led by Accel.
• Modal crossed $1B in annualized run rate.
• Usage has tripled since Series C and grown over 15x year-over-year.

Runtime recap: the full keynote, VM Sandboxes, Modal Clusters, and more.

Modal announces a runtime product update with VM Sandboxes and Modal Clusters, as highlighted in a blog post.

Modal Labs closing in on $750M round at $15.75B valuation

AI inference infrastructure provider Modal Labs is nearing a $750 million funding round led by Accel at a $15.75 billion valuation, according to a source. This would more than triple its valuation from $4.65 billion in May. The round comes amid surging demand for inference services, with other startups like Baseten, Fireworks, and Fal also raising at higher valuations. Modal Labs, founded in 2021 by Erik Bernhardsson and Akshat Bubna, provides infrastructure for training and running AI models without managing servers. The company has surpassed $300 million in annualized revenue as of May. The funding talks follow a security incident in July where a customer's data was compromised, but Modal's platform was not breached.

• Modal Labs is nearing a $750 million funding round led by Accel at a $15.75 billion valuation.
• The round would more than triple Modal Labs' valuation from $4.65 billion in May.
• Modal Labs has surpassed $300 million in annualized revenue as of May.