Stories

Thu, 16 Apr 2026

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 Allbirds shares soar after pivot from shoes to AI

The company is selling off its shoe brand as it plans to shift to providing technology infrastructure.

* Shares in Allbirds soared by over 580% after it announced plans to pivot from footwear to artificial intelligence (AI)
* The company will change its name to NewBird AI and invest $50m in becoming an "AI compute infrastructure" business
* Allbirds has struck a deal with American Exchange Group, which includes brands like Ecko Unltd and Aerosoles, to transfer ownership of the brand
* The company's long-term plan is to offer on-demand graphics chips and cloud services specifically for AI
* The announcement has been likened to "liquidation" rather than a pivot, as it uses the existing stock market shell to enter an unrelated business
* Allbirds has struggled to turn a profit since listing on the Nasdaq in 2017, with its stock market value plummeting from over $500 to around $2.50