Allbirds stock jumps 45% as company rebrands to Smartbird

Allbirds completed its transformation from a footwear company into an artificial intelligence infrastructure provider on Wednesday, changing its name to Smartbird and appointing former Amazon executive Nadia Carlsten as chief executive officer.

The announcement sent shares of the company, which continues to trade under the ticker BIRD, sharply higher.

The stock surged more than 45% after the company unveiled the rebranding and leadership changes.

The move marks the latest step in a dramatic strategic shift that began earlier this year.

In March, the company agreed to sell the Allbirds brand and footwear assets to American Exchange Group for $39 million.

One month later, it announced plans to transition into an AI infrastructure business, sparking a surge in its shares.

Leadership overhaul accompanies rebranding

Smartbird said Carlsten will serve as president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors.

She succeeds Joe Vernachio, who resigned from both his executive role and the company's board.

Carlsten brings experience in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and quantum technologies.

She previously served as chief executive of AI platform DCAI, worked at Alphabet spinoff SandboxAQ, and led product development for Amazon Web Services' quantum-computing lab.

She has also advised the World Economic Forum on computing and AI.

Independent director Lily Yan Hughes, who joined the board in October, was appointed chair of the board. Annie Mitchell will continue in her role as chief financial officer.

“We are thrilled to usher in this new era of the company with Nadia at the helm. Her groundbreaking work and visionary mindset will be instrumental in establishing a foothold in the market and building a scalable long-term solution for enterprise customers,” Hughes said.

Carlsten also outlined the company's ambitions in the fast-growing AI infrastructure market.

“AI is rapidly becoming mission-critical for organizations across every industry,” Carlsten said in a statement. “Yet many organizations lack a practical path to deploy and operate the dedicated infrastructure these workloads require.”

She added: “With a differentiated strategy, significant capital, and the opportunity to build an exceptional team, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on one of the most significant infrastructure opportunities of the next decade.”

Company targets managed AI infrastructure services

Smartbird said it plans to provide AI infrastructure as a managed service, allowing customers to access computing capacity without incurring significant upfront equipment costs.

The company said it is actively discussing potential projects with customers and is designing its first cluster deployments.

Rather than building large-scale infrastructure in advance, Smartbird said it intends to construct chip clusters tailored to customer requirements.

The company plans to target midmarket enterprises that may face cost or security challenges when accessing cloud computing services.

The company is entering a highly competitive market currently dominated by large AI infrastructure providers, including CoreWeave and Nebius Group.

Financing expanded to support AI buildout

Alongside the leadership changes, Smartbird expanded its previously announced senior secured convertible financing facility.

The company increased the facility to $100 million from $50 million through an amendment to a Securities Purchase Agreement originally signed in April.

The additional financing can be used to issue senior secured convertible notes and was previously earmarked to acquire graphics processing units.

The company said the transition positions it to pursue opportunities in AI infrastructure after exiting its footwear business.

Allbirds' market value had fallen significantly since its 2021 initial public offering, when it briefly commanded a valuation of about $4 billion.

Despite volatility surrounding the transition, investor enthusiasm for the company's AI strategy has supported its shares this year.