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Terawulf’s third-quarter operating loss widened to $88.2 million from $24.7 million a year earlier, even as total revenue rose to $76.2 million, according to Bitcoin.com News. The U.S. digital infrastructure provider said high-performance computing (HPC) leasing brought in $63 million, about 83% of the top line, while bitcoin mining and legacy digital asset revenue kept shrinking as a share of sales.
The results, released Nov. 6, landed the same week that Nasdaq-listed IREN reported a 58% quarterly drop in bitcoin mining revenue to $28 million. Both companies are redirecting power and capital toward AI computing, and both are being judged on whether the new business can outrun the costs of building it.
Also read: Bitcoin Difficulty Dips 0.03% as September Mining Revenue Hits $1.12B
Key facts
- Terawulf’s total costs and expenses more than doubled to $164.5 million from $75.3 million a year earlier, with the widening loss tied to higher selling, general and administrative spending and interest costs.
- The company ended the quarter with about $2.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, and completed the sale of its 50.1% stake in the Abernathy Joint Venture for $250 million in upfront cash.
- IREN’s bitcoin mining revenue fell to $28 million from $67 million in the June quarter and from $233 million a year earlier, per its quarterly filing with the SEC.
- IREN mined 402 BTC versus 2,039 BTC a year earlier, and its average operating hashrate fell to 8.8 EH/s from 45.3 EH/s as miners were removed.
- IREN’s AI cloud revenue rose 182% to $200 million, lifting total quarterly revenue 66% to $228 million, according to crypto.news.
What changed at Terawulf
Terawulf is no longer primarily a miner. Its third-quarter financial results show HPC leasing carrying the business, while the Lake Mariner facility had 102 megawatts of operational IT capacity as of Sept. 30, with another 336 MW under construction at an estimated $8 million to $10 million per MW.
The company’s contracted pipeline has grown alongside the buildout. It holds a 20-year lease with Anthropic at its Justified Campus worth roughly $19 billion in contracted revenue, backed by a Google credit backstop for project financing. It expanded the Muskie Campus in Kentucky to 1 gigawatt of contracted power and expects to begin delivering Anthropic data centers there by late 2027. It also raised commitments under its revolving credit agreement to $400 million.
IREN’s mining exit and the Microsoft delay
IREN’s filing states the company aims to substantially complete its move away from bitcoin mining by Dec. 31, 2026, with immaterial mining operations continuing through calendar 2027. It held no bitcoin on its balance sheet at the end of September and sells mined coins daily.
The bitcoin decline was offset by AI cloud growth, which came in at 86% gross margin and nearly 88% of quarterly revenue, up from roughly 52% in June. Cloud services contributed $135 million of the AI total and cloud leasing $65 million. IREN reported a net loss of $263 million, narrower than the prior quarter’s $684 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $66 million, up from $19 million.
The company’s $4 billion annual recurring revenue target slipped. IREN had expected to reach it by December 2026; co-CEO Daniel Roberts said the goal is now targeted for January 2027, with a possible extension into February, citing a customer-requested design change and supplier timing. On the earnings call he named Microsoft, which requested network infrastructure changes for its 200-megawatt deployment. Bernstein rated the stock Outperform with a $55 price target, CoinCentral reported.
Shares closed at $18.03 on Nov. 5, down from $21.71 the prior session — a fall of nearly 17% — during a sell-off in AI and technology stocks, though the stock recovered some ground after hours.
Why it matters
Both companies are testing whether data center leasing can replace mining economics before the old business fades. Terawulf’s revenue is growing and its losses are widening at the same time; IREN’s mining arm is shrinking quickly while its AI backlog reached $20.3 billion, up 22%, with about two-thirds tied to investment-grade customers.
The pattern is not limited to these two firms. MARA has partnered with Starwood on AI data centers and CleanSpark has expanded into AI computing, and IREN’s total assets of $20.6 billion now include $6 billion in data center assets, supported by agreements involving Nvidia, Microsoft and 13 other customers.
What to watch
IREN’s Dec. 31, 2026 target for completing its mining exit and the January 2027 date for its $4 billion ARR goal are the next checkpoints. Terawulf’s delivery of Anthropic data centers at Muskie, expected by late 2027, and progress on the 336 MW under construction at Lake Mariner will show whether its spending converts into lease revenue. IREN also faces roughly $15 billion in remaining fiscal 2027 capital expenditure, with $6 billion still dependent on financing it has not yet secured.
Investors should note that analyst targets such as Bernstein’s $55 figure are forecasts, not outcomes. This is not financial advice, and the market for AI and mining-linked equities remains volatile and uncertain.
Reported by Bitcoin.com News.
Sources: Bitcoin.com News, crypto.news, CoinCentral