The BareStory
Oracle’s stock price fell significantly this week after the company reported quarterly revenue that missed analyst expectations. Following a late Wednesday earnings report, the company’s shares dropped by approximately 11% on Thursday and continued to decline on Friday. Oracle posted revenue of $16.06 billion, below the $16.21 billion consensus estimate, according to LSEG-compiled data. The slide was part of a broader downturn in artificial intelligence-related stocks, with companies including Nvidia, Broadcom, and Micron also seeing their shares fall.
The stock decline occurred despite Oracle announcing a massive increase in spending to meet high demand for its AI cloud infrastructure. The company informed investors it was raising its capital expenditure forecast for the fiscal year from $35 billion to $50 billion, citing new contracts. In a quarterly filing, Oracle also disclosed that its lease commitments for data centers and cloud capacity had grown 148% to $248 billion as of November 30.
To support this expansion, Oracle raised $18 billion in new debt in September, and by the end of November, its total debt had reportedly surpassed $124 billion. According to RBC analyst Rishi Jaluria, investors have raised questions about how the company will finance its growth. In a conference call, Oracle's Principal Financial Officer, Doug Kehring, stated that various funding sources were available through public and private debt markets.
One major new client is OpenAI, which in September announced a commitment to use Oracle's cloud services. Despite the market downturn, a Morningstar analyst, Luke Yang, stated that recent investor scrutiny of Oracle might be "overly punitive." However, Morningstar reduced its fair value estimate for the company’s stock, with Yang citing challenges in delivering planned capacity on time, while also adding that the firm continues to view Oracle's shares as undervalued.
How it may affect me
As a U.S. reader:
• The downturn in AI-related stocks, including Oracle, may temporarily lower the value of investment portfolios and retirement accounts holding shares in the tech sector.
• Oracle’s ability to expand its cloud capacity for clients like OpenAI could affect the future performance and availability of AI services used by the public.
• Uncertainty about how major AI companies will finance growth could impact the long-term pace of innovation and the cost of future technology services.