Allbirds in a surprising announcement revealed that it is pivoting from shoes to artificial intelligence.
According to CNBC, the move boosted shares of the miniscule market cap company, it was valued at about $21 million at Tuesday’s close, by more than 700% on Wednesday April 15.
The shares, which were under $3 a day ago, jumped to over $17.
The company announced that it’s pivoting its business to AI compute infrastructure in a release posted to its investor relations page.
The company, which according to the release will be called NewBird AI, announced a deal to raise up to $50 million in funding, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.
“The Company will initially seek to acquire high-performance, low-latency AI compute hardware and provide access under long-term lease arrangements, meeting customer demand that spot markets and hyperscalers are unable to reliably service,” the company said in the announcement.
Allbirds, once a Wall Street darling valued north of $4 billion, announced a deal with American Exchange Group to sell its intellectual property and other assets for $39 million last month.
American Exchange Group is a brand management company focused on the accessory space. According to the release, it will continue to sell products under the Allbirds brand.
It is worth noting that Allbirds closed all its American full-priced stores in February.
