Howard Lutnick’s Cantor buys $126 million of surprising AI stock | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Howard Lutnick’s Cantor Fitzgerald just dropped a whopping $126 million on Mr. Market’s more surprising AI infrastructure stories in Iren Limited (IREN).

The former bitcoin miner has quickly evolved into a serious player in AI infrastructure, and Cantor’s endorsement adds another layer of credibility.

For perspective, it wasn’t exactly a quarter where Cantor was broadly looking to load up on risk, either.

Its portfolio market value dropped to $6.59 billion (down from $10.3 billion previously), per WhaleWisdom. Net flows showed that overall activity resulted in a roughly 20.75% net outflow compared to the total market value.

Interestingly, other big-money 13F filings underscore a similar “AI plumbing” story.

Ken Griffin’s Citadel went the hardest, loading up on $2.52 billion of Amazon stock and doubling down on Nvidia, elevating that stake to nearly $4 billion.

Then billionaire David Tepper’s Appaloosa made Micron the headline, dropping nearly $285 million on the memory giant. Jim Simons’ Renaissance swung hard at Micron, too, adding $520 million of Micron while trimming Nvidia and Google-parent Alphabet.

Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater also went all-in on the AI core with a fresh $253 millionNvidia addition, building its stake around Oracle and Micron as infrastructure sidekicks.

Iren is a big testament to that overarching theme, with Cantor positioning it as another picks-and-shovels player in the AI arms race.

Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed a $126 million stake in AI-focused IREN stock.

Photo by Alex Wong on Getty Images

Cantor Fitzgerald portfolio activity

Market value: $6.59 billion (prior: $10.3 billion)
Inflows (outflows) as % of total MV: (−20.75%)
New purchases: 88 stocks
Added to: 58 stocks
Sold out of: 241 stocks
Reduced holdings in: 52 stocks
Top 10 holdings concentration: 43.53%
Turnover: 72.95% Source: WhaleWisdom

Who is Howard Lutnick?

Howard Lutnick is best described as a Wall Street survivor-turned-power broker, earning his reputation as a crisis man by running Cantor Fitzgerald through the aftermath of 9/11.

Lutnick isn’t exactly your regular celebrity stock-picker, though. He’s a builder who has spent years reshaping the plumbing of finance.

Instead of the typical hot takes, his strength was structure, including markets, deal flow, execution, and developing institutions that could endure the hits.

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In the investing world, Lutnick is inseparable from Cantor Fitzgerald, a bond-trading and institutional brokerage shop he helped take to unsurpassable heights.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Cantor’s offices at the World Trade Center suffered catastrophic losses, including the death of Lutnick’s brother, but he was able to turn things around in emphatic fashion and became the face of the firm’s incredible comeback.

Cantor’s “big firm” credentials are backed up by the numbers.

For perspective, a Wall Street Journal report from November last year showed that Cantor was on track to close out its best year ever, topping an eye-catching $2.5 billion in revenue.

On the asset side, Cantor’s asset-management platform has been touted as overseeing nearly $14.8 billion in assets under management spread across multiple vehicles.

These days, though, Lutnick isn’t running the day-to-day anymore.

He was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 18, 2025, and by the Department of Commerce as the 41st U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

In assuming the role, Lutnick stepped down as chairman and CEO of Cantor, with leadership shifting to three co-CEOs (Sage Kelly, Pascal Bandelier, and Christian Wall), as reported by The Wall Street Journal. His two sons have also taken on larger senior roles within the business.

Cantor Fitzgerald’s biggest 13F moves

Top buys (largest value)

IREN Ltd. (put): $190 million
NVIDIA Corp. (put): $177 million
IREN Ltd.: $126 million
BitMine Immersion Technologies (put): $124 million
M3-Brigade Acquisition: $81.1 million Source: WhaleWisdom

Top sells (largest value)

Advanced Micro Devices (put): -$0.57 billion
State Street SPDR S&P (put): -$474 million
Advanced Micro Devices: -$295 million
Strategy Inc.: -$240 million
State Street SPDR S&P (call): -$115 million Source: WhaleWisdom

13F holdings summary

NVIDIA Corp. (put): 12.87% of portfolio
NVIDIA Corp.: 8.49% of portfolio
Strategy Inc.: 5.6% of portfolio
Advanced Micro Devices (put): 3.25% of portfolio
IREN Ltd. (put): 2.88% of portfolio Source: WhaleWisdom

Iren is emerging as an AI powerhouse

Iren is one of those breakout AI stories that makes you do a double-take.

It built its foundation in perhaps the most power-hungry industry on the planet, in Bitcoin mining.

That, in many ways, played right into its hands. It compelled the company to efficiently master cheap, secure electricity, build massive-scale sites quickly, and manage high-intensity computing.

Now it’s applying that tried-and-tested playbook to GPU-heavy AI cloud infrastructure, with its bull case centering on power, speed, and unmatched credibility.

Power is the new scarcity in AI: Iren has been quietly building the backbone to support dense AI workloads, while expanding its grid-connected power to 2,910 megawatts and operating data center capacity to 810 megawatts.
Hyperscaler validation: Iren’s massive $9.7 billion, five-year Microsoft deal positions it squarely in the AI supply chain.
Nvidia ecosystem access: Iren’s been doubling down on next-gen systems powered by liquid cooling, securing Preferred Partner status and growing its fleet to roughly 10,900 Nvidia GPUs.

IREN stock vs. S&P 500

1-month: IREN Limited: -26.32%; S&P 500: 1.66%
6-month: IREN Limited: 102.33%; S&P 500: 8.03%
YTD: IREN Limited: 5.85%; S&P 500: 0.94%
1-year: IREN Limited: 223.46%; S&P 500: 12.95% Source: Seeking Alpha

Iren backed its AI push with genuinely impressive results.

In FY25, the company generated $501 million in sales, $86.9 million in net income, along $269.7 million in adjusted EBITDA, according to Blockspace.

The shift became even clearer in Q2 FY26, when it posted AI Cloud Services sales of $17.3 million, up from $7.3 million in the previous quarter, Zacks Investment Research reported. Bitcoin mining sales dropped to $167.4 million, down from $233.0 million. Also, adjusted EBITDA came in at a mighty impressive $75.3 million, a 41% margin.

Daniel Roberts, co-founder and co-CEO of IREN, gushed about the company’s results in its latest earnings call.

Also, liquidity has become a major talking point in the AI arms race, and Iren wrapped up the year with an impressive $3.26 billion in cash and cash equivalents.