New York, Jan 15, 2026, 5:26 PM EST — After-hours
- Oracle shares dropped almost 2% on Thursday after a bondholder lawsuit connected to AI funding came to light.
- Bondholders claim Oracle failed to reveal plans for additional borrowing following a significant OpenAI computing agreement.
- Oracle revealed a fresh cloud deal with the UK Ministry of Defence to transition its legacy systems onto OCI.
Oracle Corp shares dropped 1.9% Thursday and saw little movement after hours, as investors digested a bondholder lawsuit targeting the company’s debt strategy tied to its AI expansion. 1
Timing is key as Oracle doubles down on AI-driven cloud growth—a move that demands serious capital. Once investors begin debating funding and disclosure, tensions can quickly spread from bonds to shares.
The lawsuit boils down to whether Oracle was transparent enough with investors about how it intended to fund the infrastructure supporting its largest AI deals. Rising borrowing costs or stricter lender demands could alter the financial outlook for growth initiatives, even if demand remains solid.
Oracle faced a lawsuit on Wednesday from bondholders claiming losses after the company didn’t disclose its plan to issue a large amount of new debt to expand its AI infrastructure. The class action, filed in Manhattan’s New York state court, targets investors who bought $18 billion of Oracle bonds issued on Sept. 25—just two weeks after Oracle announced a $300 billion, five-year deal to provide OpenAI with computing power. Bondholders say they were caught off guard when Oracle came back to the market seven weeks later seeking $38 billion in loans to build two data centers for the OpenAI contract. “The bond market’s reaction to Oracle’s additional debt was swift and bracing,” the suit states. Oracle declined to comment. Reuters reported the company ended November with roughly $108 billion in outstanding notes and other borrowings. 2
Oracle announced Wednesday it inked a cloud deal with the UK Ministry of Defence to shift legacy systems onto Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The MoD aims to modernize while adding “new AI capabilities.” Victoria Cope, the MoD’s commercial director, called the OCI agreement a sign of its “multi-vendor strategy.” Oracle’s Jason Rees for EMEA said this will let the ministry migrate “without complicated and costly rewrites.” 3
The UK deal boosts Oracle’s drive to capture government and regulated-workload cloud contracts—those long-term, sticky agreements. Still, it leaves unresolved the short-term investor debate over how quickly Oracle can scale its AI infrastructure spending without straining its balance sheet.
A regulatory filing revealed that an Oracle officer submitted a Form 144 notice to sell up to 35,000 shares. This form is mandatory for certain insiders planning to offload stock, as per SEC regulations. 4
Traders noted that financing still drives the biggest swings. For now, equity investors are watching closely how Oracle’s debt performs, along with any impact the lawsuit might have on scrutiny of its capital-raising strategies for data centers linked to the OpenAI project.
The bondholder case remains in its early days, with Oracle yet to file a court response. If the company proves its disclosures were sufficient, or if investors judge the funding manageable given the size of its AI deals, the stock might face less pressure.
Investors will be on the lookout for any new updates from the company regarding funding or capital requirements. On the calendar, Oracle is set to pay its quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share on Jan. 23. 5
