[U: Now Down ~12%] Better At Bottom Line — But Long-Term Lower Top Line Growth: Oracle Q4 2026 Results Call… Will Need Added $20 Billion To Finance AI Biz…

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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

Oracle’s GAAP Q4 Will Be Filed, Tonight. What Will We See?

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Truly, the Sales/Billings quarterly totals tend to be pretty volatile — it is the smoothed out annual trends that matter most. Oracle will post a huge beat in one quarter, then come in way short the next. So it is hard to say what will come from tomorrow evening — with any certainty.

Several analysts have said that today’s decline in Oracle is driven by fears of a weak SpaceX IPO turnout — or a weak OpenAI one. I’m unconvinced. I think it is the “noise” expected, in Oracle’s own quarterly figures. We shall see — here is one rag’s report, from yesterday morning:

…Enterprise software giant Oracle will be announcing earnings results this Wednesday after market hours. Here’s what to expect.

Oracle beat analysts’ revenue expectations last quarter, reporting revenues of $17.19 billion, up 21.7% year on year. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA and billings estimates….

This quarter, the market is expecting Oracle’s revenue to grow 20.1% year on year, improving from the 11.3% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. . . .

Wall Street analysts are expecting the company to report $1.96 in adjusted earnings per share, up from $1.70 the year before….

Recent options pricing suggests trading expect Oracle’s stock could swing up to 11% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that magnitude from Monday’s close could see the tech firm’s stock rise to around $236, or slip back below $188….

Check back in about an hour — for more… color. Smile.

नमस्ते

Lawless Rio Grande Border “Razor Wire” Barrier: Mediation, In Del Rio Texas — Now On, For June 15, 2026

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USDC Chief Judge Alia Moses has ordered the parties to mediation, as you will recall. Here’s the update, in blue below — as to the scheduling.

This is a text only entry:

…ORDER RESETTING MEDIATION

In order to facilitate further mediation pursuant to Chief United States District Judge Alia Moses’ Order [ECF No. 142], the Court ORDERS the parties to appear before it, in person, on June 15, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. The mediation will occur in Courtroom No. 4 of the United States Courthouse, 111 E. Broadway Street, Del Rio, Texas.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties shall file an advisory with the Court by June 12, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. if they wish the hearing to be reset. They then must file an additional advisory by June 17, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. with three proposed dates that fall between June 29, 2026, and July 10, 2026.

SIGNED this 9th day of June 2026….

So it is on a short fuse — and (Condor predicts, again) this will ultimately result in the payment — by Texas taxpayers — (and perhaps of boxcar damages!) to those injured and/or killed by the lawlessness of MAGA Gov. Abbott — in installing the razor wire. Damn.

नमस्ते

Tangerine 2.0’s Lawless Effort — To Abandon US Diplomats In Africa (Due To Ebola) Has Now Gotten A Kenyan Killed; Dozens Injured. Damnation.

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To start, US foreign service staff have a union contract that requires, of right, that they be brought home to the US for treatment — specifically if the disease is Ebola. And the courts in Kenya have enjoined Trump’s attempt at “a leper colony” — inside Kenya. Dammit.

[More than that, since at least 2008, we’ve had state of art (safely-quarantined) facilities, here in Atlanta and Omaha, Nebraska to treat them. But Trump is an entirely irrational fear-monger, as to such diseases. He’s a silly germaphobe — even though close contact is needed, to spread Ebola.]

And now — lawfully citing these precedents, local Kenyans protesting the attempted illicit US move… are being shot dead. This is to be laid completely at Trump’s “kankled” feet:

…Kenyan police shot dead a protester as hundreds of people staged new demonstrations on Tuesday against a quarantine centre in Kenya for Americans exposed to Ebola, eyewitnesses and a protest leader told Reuters.

Patrick Wahome, who has helped organise protests in the central town of Nanyuki against the facility, and multiple eyewitnesses at the scene said the man died from a gunshot wound to the head….

Two Reuters reporters, who did not witness the shooting themselves, saw the body lying motionless with a large wound to the head in the back of a police van.

A police spokesperson said he did not have information about the incident.

“Hooded police officers…. fired live bullets and arbitrarily arrested 19 protesters,” the non-profit Kenya Human Rights Commission said in a statement posted on its X account late on Tuesday….

Damnation — what an awful band of sociopaths this man — and his minions — are. Vote them out at the mid-terms. Do it.

नमस्ते

The Scourge Of Mpox Rumbles Ever Onward, Around The Globe: With This Stop In Hong Kong’s Mong Kok…

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There is a whiff of irrational discriminatory conduct here — aimed at owners of establishments that see a predominantly gay clientèle. Let us hope that the local authorities are not misusing the outbreak — to drive prejudices.

This spa ought to be soon re-opened in a free society. After a thorough cleaning, of course, but it cannot be the spa owner’s fault that one or two people who were ill decided to meet other men there. How would s/he know? In any event, the focus now should be on vaccinating all contacts of the five presently ill. Here’s the latest from the South China Post [subs. req.]:

…Hong Kong health authorities have identified at least five Mpox cases linked to a “premier” gay-friendly sauna and fitness club in Mong Kok, with the venue temporarily closed amid ongoing epidemiological investigations.

The Centre for Health Protection said the five cases, including two previously reported by mainland Chinese authorities, all engaged in “high-risk activities with strangers”, without elaborating further, at the Hu-Tong club on Shanghai Street.

The venue has been closed since May 26 as officials trace potential contacts. The latest case was a 58 year old man who developed a lower body rash (after visiting the spa)….

[The second image is a legacy, from 2010, and old Schering-Plough’s trouble in Hong Kong — with Pegintron.] We will forge a path… toward progress — so as ever: onward, resolutely. Smile.

नमस्ते

Confidential, To John Hinderaker — Nativists Kill Far More — In Belfast, And US

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His racism is… endless.

He refers to crime in Belfast as… “Immigration… Comes To Belfast“.

Damn. Nope, John — that would be street crime — and it happens far more often at the hands of native sons of Ireland (and Minnesota, you idiot).

John makes no innocent mistake here; he simply wishes to link crime to skin color.

This is naked racism.

And he well knows the same nakedly racist rants are offered by his friends and followers about US crime.

But as we all know, numerically — it is far more common to be the victim of a crime committed by a white person already a citizen of the United States in America (and most certainly also in Belfast at the hands of a native Irishman)… that in any other way. Even though Trump has tried to suppress uniform crime statistic reporting — here’s the proof for the point I make, for the United States (2019 data — but the whyte crimes trend has remained solid for 200 years, here).

Sit down and shut up, John.

You’re a bitter codger and life long racist pig.

As We Earlier Strongly Suspected — NASA Has Officially Declared Maven “End of Mission” — Around Mars, As Of Last Week.

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The review board will release a root cause analysis later in 2026, but there is unlikely to be a definitive answer as to what precisely caused the high spin rate and loss of signal.

In the mean time, we can bid this speed merchant only clear skies and free. . . space, somewhere out past Barsoom:

…The first mission devoted to observing the Martian atmosphere and its evolution, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), has ended after more than 11 years in orbit at Mars and a decade beyond its primary, one-year mission. The spacecraft was heard last on Dec. 6, when it experienced an unexpected loss of signal after it passed behind the Red Planet….

The agency convened an anomaly review board in February to evaluate recovery efforts and assess the spacecraft’s probable current state. The review board has determined that the MAVEN spacecraft is not recoverable, and it is no longer capable of performing its science and data relay mission, which is consistent with the mission team’s findings.

Telemetry from MAVEN prior to the spacecraft’s passage behind Mars in December showed all subsystems working normally. After the spacecraft emerged, NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) did not observe a signal. A brief fragment of telemetry data from analysis of radio signals recorded by the DSN’s open-loop receivers indicated the spacecraft was in safe mode and rotating at an unusually high rate when it emerged from behind Mars, indicating a disruption in MAVEN’s orbit trajectory. The review board concluded that due to this rotation, the batteries on the spacecraft had drained, causing the communications system to lose power and rendering MAVEN in an unrecoverable state….

Onward — she sailed fast and far, and almost always… flawlessly — and that is, in the end, all we might have expected of her. Smile.

नमस्ते

Update — On The Russian Gangway Oxygen Leak At The International Space Station: Stable For Now…

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While we were off-grid, it turned out that, last Friday, the Russian team was considering removing panels in the affected gangway. After much back and forth, the decision was to apply additional patching material inside the gangway, and see how that holds up — before removing a panel (which might expose a much larger crack / O2 leak — and risk).

Here’s the latest — from NASA’s press release — from that Friday afternoon:

…The week of June 1, during Progress 95 spacecraft cargo operations, Roscosmos noted an increase of the previous leak rate to two pounds per day and identified new suspected leak areas in the PrK. Following this observation, Roscosmos made the decision to begin work toward a more extensive inspection and structural repair effort Friday morning. This revised approach involved cutting a bracket to better access an area identified as a possible leak source for further inspection, using a method that could have resulted in elevated risk to the structure in the area. In response, NASA directed the four SpaceX Crew-12 members and NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who flew to station aboard the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, to take a heightened safety posture, known as a safe haven, inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft during the procedure.

Later Friday morning, Roscosmos paused and did not perform the structural repair work in favor of conducting additional measurements and data assessments, which included inspection of suspected areas of interest and review of areas where sealant was previously applied. NASA strongly supported that decision, and as a result, following that decision, Crew-12 and Williams ended their safe haven activities and returned to normal operations aboard the orbiting laboratory….

NASA will continue to work with our Russian counterparts, along with the rest of the international partners that support the space station, to assess and ensure a resolution to this matter….

[And at immediate right is a short gif-movie — of the prior Russian coolant-leak — in the Soyuz MS-22 Module / Capsule, at the ISS — about three and a half years ago.]

Onward, resolutely — into a steaming, sunny June day in the steel and glass canyons. Smile.

नमस्ते

Here’s A Reasonably Serviceable Comparison / Analysis — Of Merck’s Vs. Pfizer’s Three Year Ahead Prospects [If Held In a Tax-Deferred Account].

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If, as a retiree, you have a tax-deferred account in which to hold stocks, you are likely often looking for at least some fat dividend stocks. But most of all, you look for reliable pay-outs — from long term, sustainable cash flow.

It is clear that this “article/analysis” was likely mostly generated by an AI agent. It is not… wrong (if you simply want to invest today, and reap high — but double taxed, dividends in cash every year — outside your tax deferred account).

But most people would rather solve for taxes, and look at either stock (or both) being held in a 401(k) or an IRA — and take the dividends as reinvestments in the stock (no immediate cash). That is so, at least until well-after they retire, and then perhaps switch over to cash dividend payouts, for boosted quarterly retirement cash (no need to sell the underlying stock). You will pay taxes on the withdrawn amounts though.

[About 15 to 20 years ago, for five years, we used to an annual comparison of PFE v. MRK. So, consider this as a lazy / potential “slop” update, to those. Heh.]

But the central point we make here today, is sound. PFE yields a higher dividend RATE — because its NYSE price has not appreciated as much as Merck’s on a percentage basis, over the past five years. Both are excellent for your 401(k), or IRA — as those dividends get reinvested in the stock currently tax deferred. But yes, a 6+% annual dividend payout is sweet (since PFE’s stock price is lower, relatively speaking, you can buy in, and get more — more easily, at present).

Even so, though I would argue that Merck’s might be hiked — as we reach the 2030s, and its next gen immuno-oncology offerings come to the fore. If you are like me, you can wait. And I will, in my tax deferred accounts.

But that is just me. Here’s the “bot-written piece” — and a legacy graphic — sorta’ updated:

…Pfizer is now a 6.58% yielder, distributing $9.8 billion in 2025 dividends at $1.72 per share. That payout sits on a $3.22 adjusted EPS base, so coverage looks comfortable even with COVID revenue fading. Non-COVID growth told the real story: Abrysvo jumped 136%, Eliquis added 10%, and oncology biosimilars surged 77%.

Merck pays a smaller yield of 2.74% on a $3.28 annual dividend, but the underlying business is growing faster. KEYTRUDA delivered $8.03 billion in Q1 2026, up 12%, while WINREVAIR rocketed 88% to $525 million. Animal Health added a steady 13%. The recent quarterly dividend bump from $0.81 to $0.85 signals confidence….

But if you just want to harvest cash (and pay the double taxation!) Merck drops more coin in your pocket, quarter by quarter, compared to Pfizer. [Seriously, who writes these pieces?]

Onward, boarding — with a layover in the Rockies — then on, home over Lake Michigan.

नमस्ते

After A Weekend Of Olympic Tri- Cheering, We Are Back At It — From An Airport — DRC’s Ebola Situation Has Grown Much Worse, In Just A Week.

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While I was off-grid last week, most Western journalists reduced the count of Ebola cases — and deaths, in Africa. They did so, because WHO is now only counting cases confirmed by Western-style diagnostic testing.

But several hundreds were buried, without any intervention — before the outbreak was declared — and so no testing will ever occur, on those — as “Great Death has made them his, forevermore1“. These long-departed are almost certainly Ebola victims. [Thus our graphic this morning, cobbled together by phone, from the airport — attempts to true the results up.]

Even so, the official count of cases is now 515.

Before I left, the very reasonably suspected cases stood at over 1,100 — mostly in the gold mining (and strife torn) districts in remote eastern Ituri province — Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today it is certainly much higher.

And so — to be clear — for our part, our graphics will include the suspected cases — so we now show over 1,615. Because that is the most likely truth — and deaths are at over 310, based on similar logic.

This is likely to end as the second worst outbreak in recorded history for ebola — with only the 2012 to 2014 one recording more cases and deaths. [Thanks, Elon and Donald!] Here is Reuters, reporting on the latest, overnight:

…Democratic Republic of ‌Congo said on Sunday that the number of ⁠confirmed Ebola cases had increased to 515 after 27 new samples ‌tested ⁠positive in the previous 24 hours.

The confirmed ⁠cases include 91 deaths, ⁠government data showed….

Obviously, DRC officials are now likely willing to under-report, so as not to kill their inter-country economies. [Afterall, nothing more may be done — for what Charles Hamilton Sorley called “the mouthless dead“.] But the truth is — and will be — far worse. Trust that.

Back in the Chi-, by tonight… and — a few thumbnails of the weekend’s shenanigans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. “When You See Millions of the Mouthless Dead” Charles Hamilton Sorley (1915)

नमस्ते