New York, June 24, 2026, 19:02 (EDT)
- Oracle slipped 4.62% to end at $157.53, its third decline in a row. Trading volume topped the 50-day average.
- Oracle’s cloud-infrastructure revenue for fiscal 2026 covered about a third of its capex, which was roughly 3.1 times larger.
- RPO hit $638 billion while free cash flow was in the red by $23.7 billion.
Oracle Corporation NYSE:ORCL lost 4.62% to close at $157.53 on Wednesday, lagging the S&P 500’s 0.10% dip and extending its slide to a third day. Volume hit 37.7 million, topping the 50-day average of 28.1 million shares, according to MarketWatch.
Oracle shares faced pressure after the company’s annual report on Monday, which broke down the numbers behind the recent stock move. There are fewer workers, more AI data-center gear, and the cash profile isn’t just software anymore.
Capex versus cloud-infrastructure revenue isn’t talked about as much. Oracle’s capital expenditures were $55.7 billion for fiscal 2026 and cloud infrastructure revenue totaled $18.1 billion. That’s $3.08 in capex for every $1 from cloud infrastructure. Comparing to total cloud revenue of $34.0 billion, capex per dollar of cloud sales lands at $1.64.
The ratio is important for the stock because it shows how much cash Oracle needs before it can turn its AI backlog into earnings investors can put a value on. Oracle had $638 billion in remaining performance obligations as of May 31, compared to a market cap of around $459 billion after Wednesday’s close. RPO is contracted revenue, not free cash flow.
Oracle’s cost cutting hasn’t answered the market’s big question. Reuters said Oracle’s headcount dropped 13%, or about 21,000 jobs, down to 141,000 for fiscal 2026. The company logged $1.84 billion in restructuring and other charges, a jump of 391% from last year. That’s about $87,500 for each laid-off worker if you compare the charge with the headcount drop, though that number also covers other exit costs.
Oracle said in its annual report that capital expenditures cash outflow jumped to $55.7 billion in fiscal 2026 from $21.2 billion in fiscal 2025, mostly from building out data centers. The company expects that trend to keep going in fiscal 2027 and after as it builds more cloud capacity.
Demand keeps the bull story alive. Oracle said remaining performance obligations climbed to $638 billion, up from $138 billion a year ago, driven by big cloud deals. Oracle also flagged $75 billion in customer-prepaid or customer-supplied hardware from large AI contracts in the third and fourth quarters, which means Oracle doesn’t need to raise as much capital.
Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk told analysts earlier this month that first-quarter fiscal 2027 delivery was “approaching one gigawatt.” CFO Hilary Maxson said gross margins should “step down” in fiscal 2027 as data-center buildout increases. Maxson also put Oracle’s own capex at $70 billion, and expects $20 billion to $25 billion to be repaid for. Reuters
eMarketer analyst Jacob Bourne summed it up: “The demand is real with cloud infrastructure revenue and backlog growing fast.” But he flagged growing pressure on the “funding question,” pointing to capex above estimates and free cash flow still negative. Reuters
Financing is the next test. Oracle brought in $43 billion in debt and $5 billion in equity in fiscal 2026. The company said it plans to raise about $40 billion more between debt and equity next fiscal year, counting the $20 billion at-the-market equity program. As of May 31, Oracle hadn’t tapped the ATM yet.
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