Shares fell in premarket trading as investors weighed Oracle's debt-funded AI expansion, looming earnings and the risk that long-term data center commitments could further pressure its balance sheet.
Oracle remains under investor and credit-market scrutiny as its AI infrastructure expansion leans heavily on debt and long-term lease commitments. Shares fell 3.10% to $139.90 in Thursday premarket trading as Nasdaq futures slipped 0.4% and S&P 500 futures edged up 0.2%, extending concerns around the software group's financing profile ahead of quarterly results due Sept. 8. Oracle ended fiscal 2026 with negative free cash flow, elevated capital spending and roughly $260 billion in data center lease obligations, while S&P Global Ratings downgraded the company to BBB- in July, one notch above speculative grade. Moody's has warned Oracle's leverage could temporarily approach five times EBITDA, and S&P analyst Andrew Chang said another downgrade is possible if leverage stays above 4.5 times. Analysts and bond investors are focused on the gap between Oracle's 15- to 19-year data center leases and shorter customer contracts, even as the company points to $638 billion in remaining performance obligations as evidence of strong AI demand. Wall Street expects Oracle to report earnings of $1.67 a share on revenue of $19.12 billion, and the stock holds a consensus Buy rating with an average analyst price forecast of $260.04.