Shoemaker Allbirds soars 700% on new business plan around AI computing infrastructure

Financially troubled eco-friendly sneaker maker Allbirds said on Wednesday it is changing course, announcing the sale of its footwear brand and a pivot to providing AI computing through its own data center. Following the announcement, Allbirds shares surged more than 700% within hours.

Allbirds plans to rename itself NewBird AI. The company said it had secured $50 million through a convertible financing facility without disclosing the investor. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. “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,” it said.

“The move exits a structurally lower footwear and apparel model for a higher-value compute business, though execution risk remains high,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Poonam Goyal wrote in a note. The company has potential to “improve its long-term margin profile if the transition is executed well.”

Last month, the brand said it would sell its intellectual property and other assets to American Exchange Group for $39 million. American Exchange, which owns a portfolio of brands, will continue to produce goods under the Allbirds name.

Allbirds itself closed all of its full-price stores in the U.S. in February, CNBC noted. The company had previously planned to fully cease operations sometime in April, Bloomberg wrote.

Allbirds was founded in 2015 by former professional football player Tim Brown and renewable materials expert Joey Zwillinger. Their idea was to create a new category of footwear that would not rely on plastics and other petroleum-based materials but instead use natural inputs. In 2016, they introduced their first model, the Wool Runner, made from merino wool. From 2022 to 2025, Allbirds’ sales fell nearly 50% – from $298 million to $152 million, CNBC noted.