IREN Ltd's stock experienced a sharp 24-hour plunge of 17.57% during after-hours trading on Thursday. The dramatic sell-off followed the release of the company's second-quarter fiscal year 2026 financial results.

The primary driver behind the severe negative reaction was a significant earnings miss. IREN reported a quarterly loss of $0.52 per share, which badly missed the analyst consensus estimate of a $0.14 loss. Revenue of $184.7 million also fell short of the $228.1 million estimate. More strikingly, the company reported a pretax loss of $337.9 million, dramatically wider than the estimated loss of $22.8 million. The net loss for the quarter was $155.4 million.

Additionally, the stock's movement was influenced by broader weakness in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin trading lower. As a company transitioning from Bitcoin mining to AI cloud services, IREN's shares remain sensitive to cryptocurrency price movements. The disappointing quarterly results, marked by the substantial earnings miss, triggered the severe negative reaction in the after-hours session.