IREN, Cipher Mining and DraftKings Hit Yearly Lows as Investors Weigh Costs and Betting Restrictions

Key Points

• IREN and Cipher Mining fell 11% and 10%, respectively, on Friday amid concerns about AI infrastructure spending and project costs.
• IREN touched $26.55, while Cipher Mining reached $8.78—both 52-week lows.
• Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its Cipher Mining price target to $19 from $28 but maintained an Overweight rating.
• DraftKings fell 2% and touched $18.35, its lowest level in more than three years, as new NBA betting restrictions added to competitive pressures.
• The three stocks have declined between 28% and 45% this year, according to the report.

IREN Cipher Mining and DraftKings reached fresh lows Friday as investors weighed different challenges to their growth prospects.

For IREN and Cipher, the focus was the cost and potential returns of building AI computing infrastructure. For DraftKings, new restrictions on certain NBA wagers added another challenge to an increasingly competitive betting market.

IREN Falls as Investors Question Returns on AI Infrastructure

IREN (IREN) dropped 11% and touched a 52-week low of $26.55 as concerns grew about whether heavy AI infrastructure spending will generate sufficient returns.

The report cited a Gartner warning that more than $3.5 trillion in cumulative AI infrastructure investments through 2030 could face financial impairment. That is a broad industry warning—not an estimate of losses at IREN.

Investors are also weighing competition from major cloud companies developing their own chips and expanding internal computing capacity. IREN, meanwhile, continues to expand its Texas data centers and Nvidia GPU capacity.

Cipher Slides After Analyst Cuts Target on Higher Costs

Cipher Mining (CIFR) fell 10% and reached a yearly low of $8.78 after Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brett Knoblauch lowered his price target to $19 from $28.

The analyst maintained an Overweight rating, but cited higher power-connection costs, construction overruns, tighter profit expectations and local opposition to new data centers.

Those pressures highlight the expense of adapting cryptocurrency mining infrastructure for advanced computing. Cipher also proposed an $850 million private offering of convertible senior notes due in 2031.

DraftKings Reaches Three-Year Low as NBA Limits Certain Wagers

DraftKings (DKNG) fell 2% and touched $18.35 after NBA restrictions affected several player-specific bets offered through authorized sportsbooks.

The changes cover certain combinations of statistical under bets, along with wagers involving opening tips, missed shots and players expected to receive limited playing time.

The restrictions add to the company’s challenges as it competes with prediction-market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. The report does not quantify the expected revenue impact of the NBA changes.

Investor Takeaway: Different Pressures, Shared Concern About Growth

The declines reflect concerns about the cost and durability of future growth—not one common problem across all three companies.

For IREN and Cipher, the central question is whether AI infrastructure investments can produce attractive returns. For DraftKings, the focus is how betting restrictions and competition could affect its business.