{"id":66459,"date":"2026-08-13T08:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/iren-delivers-to-microsoft-as-ardagh-explores-metal-unit-sale\/66459\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T08:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:08:15","slug":"iren-delivers-to-microsoft-as-ardagh-explores-metal-unit-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/iren-delivers-to-microsoft-as-ardagh-explores-metal-unit-sale\/66459\/","title":{"rendered":"IREN Delivers to Microsoft as Ardagh Explores Metal Unit Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>IREN (<a href=\"\/stock\/IREN\">IREN<\/a>)<\/strong> successfully delivered its first <strong>50MW AI Cloud deployment<\/strong> to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> and achieved <strong>NVIDIA (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>) Exemplar Cloud<\/strong> status, boosting its stock by <strong>6%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ardagh Holdings<\/strong> has initiated preparations for a potential sale of its majority stake in <strong>Ardagh Metal Packaging (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMBP\">AMBP<\/a>)<\/strong>, a unit that reported <strong>$5.5 billion<\/strong> in 2025 sales.<\/li>\n<li><strong>DeepSeek<\/strong> announced a significant overhaul of its API pricing effective <strong>August 16<\/strong>, introducing <strong>peak and off-peak rates<\/strong> that could see costs for some models nearly double.<\/li>\n<li><strong>US Trade Adviser Peter Navarro<\/strong> signaled a hardening stance on <strong>USMCA<\/strong>, stating that any future deal must include strict <strong>transshipment provisions<\/strong> to prevent tariff evasion by third countries like China.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Antofagasta (<a href=\"\/stock\/ANTO\">ANTO<\/a>)<\/strong> confirmed that its northern Chile operations remain <strong>unimpacted<\/strong> by recent heavy rainfall, despite a government-declared preventive emergency in the region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tech &amp; AI Infrastructure<\/h2>\n<p><strong>IREN (<a href=\"\/stock\/IREN\">IREN<\/a>)<\/strong> announced Thursday the delivery and acceptance of <strong>Horizon 1<\/strong>, the first of four planned <strong>50MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled<\/strong> data centers, to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/MSFT\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"18\" title=\"Stock: MSFT\">Microsoft<\/a> (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong>. This milestone is part of a massive <strong>five-year, $9.7 billion<\/strong> cloud services agreement. Following the news, <strong>IREN<\/strong> shares rose approximately <strong>6%<\/strong> in early trading.<\/p>\n<p>The company also secured <strong>NVIDIA (<a href=\"\/stock\/NVDA\">NVDA<\/a>) Exemplar Cloud<\/strong> status for its <strong>GB300 NVL72<\/strong> deployment. This designation follows rigorous testing by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock\/NVDA\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"15\" title=\"stock: NVDA\">Nvidia<\/a><\/strong> and validates <strong>IREN&#39;s<\/strong> ability to handle high-scale AI workloads. <strong>IREN<\/strong> remains on track to expand its gross AI Cloud capacity to <strong>480MW<\/strong> by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>In the software space, AI developer <strong>DeepSeek<\/strong> is adjusting its pricing model. Starting <strong>August 16<\/strong>, the company will implement <strong>peak and off-peak billing<\/strong>, with off-peak rates set at <strong>50%<\/strong> of peak prices. The move marks a shift from its previous ultra-low pricing strategy as it rolls out its <strong>V4 model family<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Industrial &amp; Corporate Strategy<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Ardagh Holdings S.A.<\/strong> has instructed financial advisers at <strong>Evercore<\/strong> and legal counsel at <strong>Kirkland &amp; Ellis<\/strong> to prepare for a potential sale of <strong>Ardagh Metal Packaging (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMBP\">AMBP<\/a>)<\/strong>. The parent company currently holds a <strong>76%<\/strong> stake in the metal unit. While no definitive timeline has been set, a full divestment could involve <strong>Ardagh<\/strong> acquiring the remaining public shares to facilitate a clean sale to a third party.<\/p>\n<p>In the mining sector, <strong>Antofagasta (<a href=\"\/stock\/ANTO\">ANTO<\/a>)<\/strong> reported that its operations in northern Chile have not been disrupted by the recent &quot;atmospheric river&quot; weather event. While the Chilean government declared a <strong>preventive emergency<\/strong> for the regions of <strong>Arica, Parinacota, and Coquimbo<\/strong>, the company\u2019s flagship assets remain functional. This follows a separate investigation into water discharge at its <strong>Los Pelambres<\/strong> mine earlier this year.<\/p>\n<h2>Trade &amp; Geopolitics<\/h2>\n<p><strong>US Trade Adviser Peter Navarro<\/strong> emphasized that any renewal or revision of the <strong>USMCA<\/strong> will require robust <strong>transshipment provisions<\/strong>. Navarro noted that US Customs officials are currently &quot;overwhelmed&quot; by <strong>tariff evasion<\/strong> tactics. He specifically targeted goods from <strong>China<\/strong> being routed through <strong>Mexico<\/strong> and <strong>Canada<\/strong> to bypass US duties.<\/p>\n<p>In the Middle East, Iranian state media <strong>Fars News<\/strong> reported that cleanup operations for a major <strong>oil spill<\/strong> in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> have reached their final stages. The spill, which covered roughly <strong>32,000 square meters<\/strong> near <strong>Qeshm Island<\/strong>, has been blamed by Iranian officials on a foreign bulk carrier. The incident has added to regional tensions, with Tehran demanding compensation for environmental damages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways IREN (IREN) successfully delivered its first 50MW AI Cloud deployment to Microsoft (MSFT) and achieved NVIDIA (NVDA) Exemplar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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