Stocks of bitcoin mining companies that have changed their business plans to serve artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were big winners in 2025, a streak they continued into the new year.
And if Big Tech’s profits this year are any indication, they may continue to reap the benefits of the pivot.
Fourth-quarter results and 2026 outlook released Wednesday evening by tech giants Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT), which place AI investment at the center of their growth strategies for this year and beyond, do not suggest a slowdown in AI overspending.
“We are just in the beginning phases of AI deployment, and Microsoft has already built an AI business that is larger than some of our largest franchises,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We are pushing the envelope across our entire AI stack to drive new value for our customers and partners.”
Meanwhile, Meta forecasts 2026 capex of between $115 billion and $135 billion, well above consensus forecasts of $110 billion.
Read more: GPU Gold Rush: Why Bitcoin Miners Are Driving AI Expansion
Faced with reduced profits from the latest bitcoin halving event, which cut miner rewards in half, as well as increased competition and energy costs, mining companies have pivoted to use their data centers to house cloud computing and artificial intelligence machines. The move has saved many miners from bankruptcy as it has allowed them to diversify their income streams beyond bitcoin mining and reap the benefits of the continued AI-related hype.
In November, Iren (IREN) announced a multi-year cloud services agreement with Microsoft to support AI workloads using advanced chips from Nvidia (NVDA), signaling a deeper shift toward high-performance computing. Around the same time, Cipher Mining (CIFR) signed a deal with Amazon (AMZN) to deliver 300 megawatts of capacity to Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the largest infrastructure commitments yet from a bitcoin miner looking to take advantage of the AI boom.
IREN rose 4.9% on Wednesday ahead of results, bringing its year-to-date gain to 47% and its year-over-year advance to 524%. Up 1.2% on Wednesday, CIFR is now up 17% in 2026 and 322% year-over-year.
Another miner that has so far successfully pivoted to AI infrastructure and high-performance computing is Hut 8 (HUT), which is up 26% year-to-date and 230% year-over-year.
The next test of the sustainability of the optimism related to AI and cloud computing will be Nvidia’s upcoming report on February 25.
Read more: Bitcoin miners chase AI demand as Nvidia says Rubin already in production
