--- title: "Famed Short Seller Jim Chanos Slams IREN Growth Story, Cites 'Ridiculous Assumptions' And 'Hopium'" description: "Jim Chanos, a prominent short-seller, criticized IREN Ltd.'s growth narrative, claiming a recent bullish report is based on unrealistic financial projections. He challenged the report's assumption of " type: "news" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/261212694.md" published_at: "2025-10-15T08:51:15.000Z" --- # Famed Short Seller Jim Chanos Slams IREN Growth Story, Cites 'Ridiculous Assumptions' And 'Hopium' > Jim Chanos, a prominent short-seller, criticized IREN Ltd.'s growth narrative, claiming a recent bullish report is based on unrealistic financial projections. He challenged the report's assumption of 80% EBITDA margins for IREN's AI data center, stating that no one achieves over 50% margins currently. Chanos also questioned the company's depreciation schedule for $2.9 billion in equipment, suggesting a more realistic timeline would drastically reduce earnings estimates. Despite the critique, IREN's stock rose 8.45% to $69.56, reflecting a 565.01% increase year-to-date. Renowned short-seller **Jim Chanos** has publicly attacked the growth narrative for bitcoin miner and AI cloud provider **IREN Ltd.** (NASDAQ:IREN), alleging that a recent bullish analyst report is built on “ridiculous assumptions” and unrealistic financial projections. *Check out IREN’s stock price here.* ## **Chanos Calls IREN’s AI Profit Projections Unrealistic** In a series of posts on the social media platform X, Chanos dismantled the Cantor Fitzgerald report that has been used to justify optimistic price targets for the company. At the heart of Chanos’s critique are the report’s financial models, which he argues defy industry norms and basic accounting principles. He specifically targeted the projection that IREN's AI data center business could achieve 80% marginal EBITDA margins. “Yet no one is doing much over 50% EBITDA margins…right now,” Chanos stated. “Lots of Hopium at work in this space right now.” ## **Questions On IREN’s Accounting, And 9-Year GPU Life** Furthermore, Chanos highlighted what he described as a “ridiculous” depreciation schedule for the company’s planned $2.9 billion in new equipment. He calculated that the report assumes an “almost 9-yr life” for the assets, which he notes are likely GPUs that become obsolete far more quickly. A more realistic depreciation timeline, he argued, would significantly slash the company’s future earnings estimates. ## **Jim Chanos Spars With IREN Director Mike Alfred** The public critique escalated when Chanos engaged in a pointed exchange with IREN board member **Mike Alfred**. After Alfred popped into Chanos’ comment section, calling the Cantor price targets “bearish,” Chanos publicly questioned his fiduciary duties. “So as a director of $IREN, does this mean we shouldn’t expect any more insider sales of stock below $200, Mike?” Chanos asked, adding scrutiny over Alfred's earlier promotion of a competitor. ## **Price Action** Shares of IREN closed 8.45% higher at $69.56 per share on Tuesday and rose 1.78% in after-hours. It has a 52-week range of $5.12 to $72.30 per share. Higher by 565.01% year-to-date, the stock has gained 715.47% over the year. IREN maintained a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking, as per **Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings**. Additional performance details are available here. The S&P 500 index ended 0.16% lower at 6,644.31 on Tuesday, whereas the Nasdaq 100 index declined 0.69% to 24,579.32. On the other hand, Dow Jones gained 0.44% to 46,270.46. On Wednesday, the futures of the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 indices were trading higher. - **IREN From $9 To $900? Eric Jackson Foresees Massive Upside For IREN Amid AI Pivot: ‘100x Wealth Machine'** ***Disclaimer:** This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.* *Photo courtesy: PJ McDonnell from Shutterstock* ### Related Stocks - [IREN.US - IREN](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IREN.US.md) ## Related News & Research | Title | Description | URL | |-------|-------------|-----| | 期权热点｜周二 IREN 大涨 5%，部分看涨期权大涨 58% | 美东时间 01 月 13 日，IREN 期权总成交 354742 张，看涨期权占比 65%，看跌期权占比 34%。 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/272496230.md) | | 美股夜盘异动：IREN 夜盘涨 3.01%，回购债券与分析师乐观评级助力股价攀升 | IREN 夜盘涨 3.01%；Palantir Tech 夜盘涨 11.80%，成交额达到 2.8 亿美元；Strategy 夜盘涨 1.32%，成交额达到 9.49 百万美元；BitMine Immersion Tech 夜盘涨 1.45 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/274603317.md) | | 报道：AI 军事用途存分歧，美国国防部接近与 Anthropic 切断关系 | 报道称，双方关系破裂源于数月来围绕美国军方如何使用 Claude 工具的激烈谈判。Anthropic 特别希望确保其人工智能不会被用于大规模监控公民，或用于开发无需人类参与即可部署的武器。美国政府方面则希望能够将 Claude 用于 “所有 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276069534.md) | | 用 AI 模拟新加坡教师 随时随地帮学生加强数学能力 \| 联合早报网 | WizzTutor 联合创办人徐锦泉和张健伦利用人工智能技术创建了一个在线教育平台，旨在帮助学生随时随地提高数学能力。徐锦泉的创意源于他作为教师时发现学生深夜仍在学习的现象。WizzTutor 提供便捷的在线服务，学生只需使用 iPad 或 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276220565.md) | | 期权热点｜周一 IREN 大涨 10%，部分看涨期权飙升 133% | 美东时间 02 月 09 日，IREN 期权总成交 289978 张，看涨期权占比 69%，看跌期权占比 30%。 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/275400626.md) | --- > **Disclaimer**: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.