The good news is that the other business lines are generating healthy free cash flow — but the amount of cap ex needed, to build out the AI centers… is daunting — to say the least.
And it comes at a moment of higher than 4% inflation, and very uncertain economic conditions, given the insanity playing out daily, in Iran — and in Israel. Thus, the stock is off almost 9% after hours. Here’s the latest, from CNBC:
…Oracle reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter on Wednesday while also raising its profit forecast for the year. The stock dropped 6% in extended trading as the company plans to raise more money to finance its AI buildout.
Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:
Earnings per share: $2.11 adjusted vs. $1.96 expected
Revenue: $19.18 billion vs. $19.10 billion expected
Revenue increased 21% year over year in the quarter….
Oracle said it foresees raising $40 billion through debt and equity financing, including a $20 billion share sale it announced earlier. That’s after raising $43 billion in debt and $5 billion in equity in fiscal 2026, a move that concerned investors due to uncertainty about whether demand for artificial intelligence can justify that much new capital….
We shall — as ever… have to wait and see. Yikes — still a good historical quarter — but stocks trade on the future prospects. And the daunting cap ex needed is spooking Wall & Broad.
To be certain, this is no longer a stodgy, slow go hardware/server company. Wow — and that’s both the good-, AND bad-… news.
नमस्ते
