Legendary hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones has massively increased his stake in data center and infrastructure company IREN Ltd. (NASDAQ:IREN), expanding his position by 57% to capitalize on the explosive artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
A Strategic Pivot To Equity
According to Tudor Investment Corp's latest first quarter 2026 13F filing, Jones purchased an additional 11.58 million common shares of IREN, bringing his total holdings to a staggering 31.8 million shares.
The equity position is now valued at nearly $73 million. Concurrently, the filings reveal a strategic winding down of his options trades, with his IREN calls dropping by 50% and puts decreasing by 28%. This shift from derivatives to common stock signals a high-conviction, longer-term bet on the underlying asset.
Funding The Infrastructure Buildout
This aggressive acquisition aligns perfectly with Jones’s latest macroeconomic playbook. In a recent CNBC interview, the billionaire investor confirmed his bullish stance on the sector, stating flatly, “I bought more AI stocks.”
Rather than trying to pick individual software winners, Jones is targeting the physical expansion required to support AI.
He highlighted the massive capital expenditures coming from major tech companies, noting there will be a “1% GDP spend just from the hyperscalers on infrastructure build out.”
As a company providing high-density power and data center infrastructure, IREN is positioned squarely in the path of this capital influx.
Riding The ‘Productivity Miracle’
Jones views the current AI revolution as a historic “productivity miracle,” drawing direct parallels to the widespread commercial adoption of the PC in 1981 and the internet in 1995.
Despite already lofty valuations, Jones sees a significant runway ahead, comparing the current market environment to the height of the dot-com bubble.
“We continue to feel like ’99,” Jones remarked. Analyzing price analogs, he added that “we’re back to fourth quarter ’99. You’ve got another ramp to go.” He predicts the market has “another two years to run and 40% to go,” indicating that the AI infrastructure supercycle is far from over.
How Has IREN Performed In 2026?
Compared with the Nasdaq Composite’s 13.38% year-to-date advance, IREN shares have gained 50.46% over the same period. It closed 2.21% lower on Friday at $56.83 per share. The stock was 3.36% higher in premarket on Tuesday.
Over the last month, IREN stock was up 17.44%, and it rose 34.48% and 512.39% over the last six months and the year, respectively. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that IREN maintains a strong price trend in the medium, short, and long terms, with a poor value ranking.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: T. Schneider via Shutterstock
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