Oracle Corp. shares tumbled 11 percent on Thursday after the company reported earnings that intensified investor worries about the rising debt behind the industry’s race to build AI data centers.
The decline spilled over into the broader technology sector, reinforcing concerns that the AI boom may be stretching valuations and expectations.
In September, Oracle raised USD18 billion through a major bond sale, one of the largest ever in the tech sector. Much of the money is intended for new AI-focused data centers as well as general corporate needs. Investors, however, are increasingly uneasy about how quickly major firms are borrowing to expand AI infrastructure.
Oracle’s latest financial results did little to calm markets. For the fiscal 2026 second quarter, revenue rose 14 percent to USD16.1 billion. Cloud revenue grew 34 percent to USD8 billion, but software revenue fell 3 percent to USD5.9 billion.
The mixed performance fueled doubts about whether AI-related workloads are producing the robust, broad-based revenue growth many expected.
The mood weighed heavily on chipmakers tied to the AI ecosystem. Nvidia dropped more than 3.5 percent, and AMD declined nearly 4 percent as investors reconsidered assumptions about the strength of future demand.
Oracle highlighted a sharp surge in long-term commitments. Total remaining performance obligations reached USD523 billion, more than five times the level a year earlier, supported by new agreements with Meta, Nvidia, and other major technology companies. Operating income was USD4.7 billion, while net income totaled USD6.1 billion.
Comments from Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison added another point of focus for markets. He said Oracle is adopting a more flexible “chip neutrality” approach and will work closely with a wide range of CPU and GPU suppliers. The shift suggests Oracle may diversify its chip sourcing, creating new uncertainty for partners such as Nvidia and AMD.
Oracle continues to expand its autonomous cloud offerings and now counts more than 211 live and planned cloud regions worldwide, a footprint it says is larger than any competitor’s.
