NEW YORK, Feb 9, 2026, 16:26 ET — After-hours
- Oracle gained 9.6% to finish at $156.59, trading on heavier-than-usual volume.
- D.A. Davidson bumped the stock up to buy. On the flip side, Melius downgraded it to hold, citing concerns over cash flow.
- This week’s U.S. jobs numbers and CPI have traders on alert, searching for any rate signals that could jolt software stocks.
Oracle Corp (ORCL) rallied 9.6% to finish at $156.59 on Monday, snapping back after a tough run for the cloud and enterprise software giant. Despite the pop, shares remain roughly 55% under their 52-week high. Volume topped the stock’s usual pace. 1
Tech shares found their footing after last week’s AI-triggered rout, as bargain hunters zeroed in on software stocks before crucial U.S. figures dropped. “We got very oversold very quickly,” said Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services, with the sector scrambling to recoup losses. 2
Oracle’s push into the cloud has drawn fresh scrutiny after it announced plans to raise between $45 billion and $50 billion in 2026, aiming to bankroll Oracle Cloud Infrastructure growth. The company is leaning on projected demand from heavyweights like AMD, Meta, NVIDIA, OpenAI, TikTok, and xAI. Funding will come from a mix of debt and equity—Oracle flagged the use of an at-the-market share program to steadily sell stock. 3
Earlier in the month, investors were uneasy about what Oracle’s financing strategy might signal—specifically, concerns around the costs of AI data centers and the timeline for those investments to generate returns. “The perception is that Oracle’s fortunes are now heavily tied to OpenAI,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, wrote in a note on the funding plan. 4
Oracle on Monday highlighted new customer activity stemming from its ongoing cloud strategy. In Ontario, a consortium backing five hospitals has shifted its Oracle Health electronic health record system over to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and it’s testing out the Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent—aiming for a full deployment later this year. “Leveraging a modern, cloud-based platform enables us to deliver superior service that adapts to our patients’ evolving needs,” said Lyn Baluyot, CEO of Transform Shared Service Organization. 5
The catalyst? D.A. Davidson shifted gears on Oracle. Analyst Gil Luria bumped the rating up to “buy” from “neutral,” sticking with his $180 target and saying shares got punished more than they deserved. “We believe the market has overshot to the downside,” Luria wrote. 6
Skepticism is cropping up in analyst circles. Melius Research’s Ben Reitzes cut Oracle to hold from buy, pegging the price target at $160. He’s not convinced about the valuation case for a company sinking so much cash into infrastructure. “What should a stock sell for with no free cash flow until the 2030s?” Reitzes asked in a note. 7
Free cash flow refers to the money a company has left once it covers operating expenses and capital expenditures. For data-center builders, that’s a critical metric. Even when revenue jumps during heavy investment phases, those same cycles often keep cash flow in the red for extended periods.
Options traders showed some nerves. Oracle saw “moderately bullish” options flow, with calls outpacing puts and a bump in implied volatility — that’s the options market’s read on expected price moves — according to TheFly. 8
Oracle’s move higher is swinging attention again toward the broader cloud cohort—Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet—after the group took a hit as investors grew wary that AI bets might be outpacing early returns. For Oracle, the key question still hangs: just how quickly can it turn cloud appetite into real money, and what’s the equity cost to make that happen?
Macro takes the spotlight next. On Feb. 11, the U.S. January jobs report lands—a data point that tends to jolt bond yields, with rate-sensitive software names feeling the aftershocks. 9
On Feb. 13, just two days down the line, the U.S. January CPI lands. Any unexpected move in inflation or wage numbers could jolt sentiment for Oracle and its fellow high-duration tech names right as earnings season picks up speed. 10
