Oracle Earnings Drag Markets Despite Fed Rate Cut
Risk assets fell Thursday as disappointing Oracle earnings added to market pressure, despite the Federal Reserve’s rate cut.
Bitcoin (BTC) hovered near $90,000, down 2.8% over 24 hours, while Nasdaq futures slipped 0.8%, reflecting caution in tech and AI-focused sectors.
Oracle reported fiscal Q2 2026 results for the period ending Nov. 30, 2025. Total revenue slightly missed expectations, hurt by weaker legacy software sales and disappointing new license bookings. Planned data center spending rose $15 billion, and long-term debt jumped 25% to $99.6 billion. Cloud infrastructure revenue of $4.1 billion fell short of forecasts, with Morgan Stanley projecting net debt could reach $290 billion by 2028.
After-hours, Oracle shares fell over 10%, weighing on AI stocks and crypto markets. Oracle’s five-year credit default swaps (CDS) rose to their highest since 2022. The Special Situations newsletter noted this represents a material repricing of risk, implying a 1.93% annual default probability and 9% five-year cumulative risk.
