Oracle stock slipped sharply in Thursday’s early trade as Wall Street reacted to weaker-than-expected guidance and a sudden jump in the company’s capital expenditure plans. The move comes just hours after Oracle reported fiscal Q2 earnings that beat on the headline numbers but raised fresh questions about how efficiently the company is deploying capital into AI-focused cloud expansion.
Oracle Earnings: Strong Headline Beat, But Guidance Misses Expectations
Oracle posted adjusted earnings of $2.26 per share, a figure that received a one-time lift from SoftBank’s acquisition of Oracle’s stake in Ampere Computing. The deal generated a $2.7 billion pre-tax gain, padding the quarter and helping the company outperform analyst profit forecasts.
Revenue, however, came in lighter than hoped, and Oracle’s outlook for the coming quarter landed well below consensus expectations. That is what ultimately spooked investors, sending the stock down nearly 11 percent in premarket trading.
The earnings call added fuel to the reaction. Doug Kehring, Oracle’s principal financial officer, said the company’s capital expenditures will be $15 billion higher this fiscal year than previously projected, as Oracle expands data centers and capacity to service AI-driven demand. While AI is a long-term growth engine, the raised spending forecast caught analysts off guard.
Oracle Earnings Call: AI Capex Surges as Management Pushes ‘Chip Neutrality’
During the call, CEO Larry Ellison reiterated Oracle’s shift toward “chip neutrality”, stating that the company will continue buying Nvidia chips but will also use alternative semiconductors if customers request them. The comment pushed Nvidia shares lower, briefly extending the broader pullback in AI-linked stocks.
Oracle’s move reflects a broader theme sweeping the technology sector: companies are tightening their AI spending discipline, demanding more predictable returns from massive cloud and compute investments. That shift explains why Oracle’s suddenly inflated capital budget raised eyebrows.
Oracle Stock Price Reaction: Why Shares Are Under Pressure
Oracle stock’s double-digit drop is tied to three main concerns:
- Guidance landed below Street expectations, signalling a potentially slower growth runway heading into early 2026.
- AI capex projections ballooned, suggesting lower near-term free cash flow.
- Chip neutrality comments hint at cooling reliance on Nvidia, shaking sentiment across semiconductor names sensitive to Oracle’s purchasing decisions.
Oracle stock price today shows a company caught between strong AI-cloud demand and a market that now scrutinizes capital efficiency far more closely than last year.
SoftBank’s $2.7B Ampere Deal Gives Oracle Stock a Major Earnings Boost
SoftBank Group acquired Oracle’s stake in Ampere Computing, delivering a $2.7 billion pre-tax gain that significantly lifted Oracle’s Q2 earnings. Thanks to this one-off benefit, Oracle stock is now trading off results that include adjusted earnings of $2.26 per share, a key figure analysts and investors are watching as they reassess the company’s AI cloud and infrastructure growth story.
Oracle Outlook: What to Expect Next for ORCL Stock
Oracle enters the next quarter under pressure to prove that its aggressive AI spending will translate into measurable cloud growth rather than margin erosion. The market will be watching three triggers: how quickly Oracle converts its Ampere partnership and chip-neutral strategy into new enterprise workloads, whether OCI can win larger hyperscale deals against Amazon and Microsoft, and how much of its $15 billion capex increase flows into revenue-generating infrastructure.
If Oracle demonstrates tighter cost discipline and clearer AI monetisation, the stock could stabilise and reclaim momentum into 2026. If progress remains slow, investors may continue rotating toward leaner AI-infrastructure names with stronger near-term visibility.
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