Topher

I seriously hope @danroberts0101 throws $MSFT under the bus tonight for their sheer incompetence. According to Bloomberg, $IREN and $MSFT are now working through a revised delivery timeline that could push parts of the deployment into Q1 2027, with cabling issues cited as one of the recent problems. But the technical context here is extremely important. @jiahanjimliu and @FransBakker9812 were already reporting on this weeks ago, and according to their account, the issue ultimately traces back to $MSFT changing its specific networking and cable / fiber topology requirements very late in the deployment sequence. Different workloads and internal systems can require different cabling topologies. The problem, according to what they reported, is that $MSFT initially wanted one layout and then changed its requirements right before the finish line. And the clearest indication that this was a Microsoft-driven issue is simply the sequence of events... Microsoft had to approve the original design. Its teams were regularly on-site at Childress throughout construction, overseeing the deployment and working directly with $IREN. Then Horizon 1 was completed, tested and formally ACCEPTED by Microsoft back in August. So if the cabling topology only became a problem shortly after H1 actually went live, the obvious inference is that $MSFT discovered the issue once it began deploying its own workloads and realized that the layout it had previously approved did not match what its internal systems ultimately required. At that point, $IREN would have been forced to go back and modify infrastructure that Microsoft had already signed off on. This appears to be a massive clusterfuck caused by $MSFT's own internal communication and planning failures, not some fundamental execution failure on $IREN's side. There is no reason $IREN should take the reputational hit for that, either optically or from an IR perspective. For that reason, I really hope management grows some balls tonight and puts the record straight. These hyperscalers can be bullies, and $MSFT especially has been getting increasingly aggressive. Over the past few days, people connected to $MSFT have seemingly been running their mouths to high-profile publications like Bloomberg and The Information, feeding one neocloud FUD story after another. And I think the incentive is pretty obvious. $MSFT is one of the least vertically integrated hyperscalers when it comes to AI infrastructure and relies heavily on leased third-party capacity. With compute prices shooting higher during a severe capacity shortage, they have every incentive to gain negotiating leverage over the very suppliers they need to fill that gap. Over the long run, that is one of the reasons I personally view $MSFT as one of the weaker MAG7 bets. It’s ironic that the market continues rewarding what I think is a much less vertically integrated infrastructure strategy. In any case, I know $IREN generally prefers the diplomatic approach and does everything it can to protect relationships with customers and suppliers. But come on... At the very least, give the market a clear hint of what actually happened here. Grow some guts and put the record straight. H/T (pic credit): @SmallCapSnipa