Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Trading Down 1.8% – Here’s Why

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) dropped 1.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $116.20 and last traded at $117.77. 27,206,648 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 7% from the average daily volume of 29,253,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.96.

More Oracle News

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded Google Cloud AI partnership supports the stock. Oracle and Google Cloud will make Gemini models available across Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications and NetSuite, potentially helping customers automate workflows and strengthening Oracle’s position in enterprise AI. The announcement drove a sharp rebound in shares. Oracle to Make Gemini Models Available to Thousands of Enterprise Applications
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see substantial upside in Oracle’s AI backlog. DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria argues that investors are assigning little or no value to Oracle’s reported roughly $630 billion AI-related backlog, including long-term compute commitments. If those contracts convert into revenue and cash flow, current valuation could look unusually attractive. Oracle’s Massive Backlog Gets No Credit
• Positive Sentiment: A broader AI-cloud rebound provided additional support. Oracle shares recovered alongside Nebius and CoreWeave after the prior day’s selloff, while strong Microsoft cloud results reinforced expectations for continued AI infrastructure spending. Why Oracle Stock Just Jumped
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are reassessing capital allocation. The AI investment boom is reducing the benefit of stock buybacks because companies are directing more cash toward data centers and infrastructure. This could limit per-share earnings support even if Oracle’s AI growth accelerates. The AI Spending Boom Is Forcing a Rethink on Stock Buybacks
• Negative Sentiment: Debt and financing risk remain the key overhang. Oracle has taken on significant debt to build AI data centers, and its credit-default-swap costs have risen sharply as investors question whether infrastructure returns will justify the borrowing. Higher financing costs could pressure profits and cash flow. Oracle Stock Drops as Default Insurance Hits 200 Basis Points
• Negative Sentiment: A New York Times investigation highlighted risks from Larry Ellison’s AI strategy and Oracle’s global data-center expansion. Separately, Ellison’s personal guarantee related to a large Warner Bros. Discovery transaction may concern shareholders because of its potential connection to Oracle’s leadership and financial risk profile. Five Takeaways From the Times Investigation Into Larry Ellison’s A.I. Gamble

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Oracle from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Oracle from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, CLSA initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Monday, July 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.03.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3%

The stock has a market cap of $372.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.15. Oracle had a return on equity of 58.62% and a net margin of 25.37%.The company had revenue of $19.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. Oracle has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.720-1.760 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.050-8.050 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.16, for a total value of $63,664,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,664,000. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 40.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HFM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 290.9% in the fourth quarter. HFM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Oracle

Oracle Corporation is a multinational technology company that develops and sells database software, cloud engineered systems, enterprise software applications and related services. The company is widely known for its flagship Oracle Database and a portfolio of enterprise-grade software products that support data management, application development, analytics and middleware. Over recent years Oracle has expanded its focus to include cloud infrastructure and cloud applications, positioning itself as a provider of both platform and software-as-a-service solutions for large organizations.

Oracle’s product and service offerings include Oracle Database and the Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM) cloud applications (often grouped under Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications), middleware such as WebLogic, and developer technologies including Java and MySQL.