Oracle shares drop over 12% in premarket, pulling down major AI stocks

Oracle shares have dropped more than 12% in premarket trading, setting off a ripple effect across the biggest AI names on Wall Street. 

The decline came after Oracle reported quarterly revenue of $16.06 billion, missing analyst expectations despite soaring demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The disappointing numbers instantly dragged down the broader tech sector. Nvidia slipped over 2%, AMD fell 3%, memory giant Micron edged 1% lower, and cloud provider CoreWeave tumbled roughly 5%. 

For investors already watching the AI rally closely, Oracle’s stumble signaled growing concerns about the sustainability of Big Tech’s massive infrastructure bets.

It should be noted that Oracle has been under the spotlight since its record-breaking $18 billion bond sale in September, followed by its high-profile $300 billion OpenAI contract, which pushed the company deeper into the battle for cloud dominance against Amazon, Microsoft and Google. 

That said, investors remain uneasy about whether Oracle needs such an aggressive debt load to execute its AI plans.

On the earnings call, Principal Financial Officer Doug Kehring attempted to reassure markets, saying Oracle remained committed to protecting its investment-grade rating. 

He added that customer-supplied chips and supplier leasing models could ultimately reduce how much financing Oracle needs, a key message as the company tries to steady investor confidence.