12 June, 2025:– Shares of enterprise software giant Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) jumped nearly 8% in premarket trading on Thursday, after the company raised its annual revenue forecast on the back of booming demand for its artificial intelligence-powered cloud services. The surge marks a continued upswing for the company, whose stock has already climbed nearly 6% this year.
Oracle now expects to generate at least $67 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, CEO Safra Catz said during the company’s post-earnings call. That marks a bold projection, fueled by growth in cloud services and infrastructure offerings, particularly those geared toward supporting AI technologies.
The company’s cloud services revenue rose 14% year-on-year to $11.7 billion in the most recent quarter, while overall quarterly revenue stood at $15.9 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $15.59 billion, according to data from LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group).
A Strategic Pivot Toward AI
Oracle’s resurgence is largely being driven by its successful pivot toward next-generation cloud infrastructure. The company is investing heavily in technologies that power generative AI, including strategic partnerships and joint ventures with major AI players.
Earlier this year, Oracle announced Stargate, a joint venture aimed at building large-scale computing infrastructure specifically designed to support OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT. The project signals Oracle’s ambition to become a major player in the high-stakes AI infrastructure space, long dominated by competitors like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud.
“Oracle’s once-stodgy image levels up to ‘cloud-native mage,’” said Michael Ashley Schulman, partner at Running Point Capital Advisors. “The competitive map now looks less like a classic three-player real-time strategy game and more like a battle royale, with everyone dropping in, looking for compute loot.”
Wall Street Cheers
Investor enthusiasm was evident, with at least nine brokerages raising their price targets for Oracle’s stock following the earnings call. Oracle currently trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.86, offering a relative value compared to rivals such as Microsoft (P/E of 31.34) and Amazon (P/E of 31.80).
“ORCL has entered an entirely new wave of enterprise popularity that it has not seen since the Internet era in the late 90s,” analysts at Piper Sandler noted. “The company’s steady transformation into a cloud-first and AI-capable provider is resonating strongly with customers and investors alike.”
Oracle’s success is unfolding against a backdrop of overall strength in the U.S. tech sector, which has remained resilient in the face of geopolitical tensions, including fears that potential tariffs under a second Donald Trump administration could dampen Big Tech’s global expansion.
So far this year, Microsoft shares have gained 12.16%, while Amazon is down 2.8%, reflecting diverging investor sentiment within the broader technology landscape.
Cloud Wars Heat Up
Oracle’s rapid rise in the cloud infrastructure race adds a fresh dynamic to what many analysts describe as an increasingly fragmented market. While AWS and Azure still control a significant portion of enterprise cloud workloads, Oracle is positioning itself as a credible alternative—particularly for enterprises seeking specialized compute for AI workloads.
“Oracle has learned from its earlier mistakes in the cloud and is now laser-focused on differentiating through performance, cost-efficiency, and scale,” said Arvind Raman, a cloud technology analyst at EdgeView Research. “The success of its AI-centric initiatives like Stargate is proof that enterprises see Oracle as more than just a database company.”
Oracle’s strength also lies in its vertically integrated solutions, offering databases, enterprise applications, and now AI infrastructure under a single umbrella. This all-in-one approach is attractive to clients wary of vendor sprawl and looking for simplicity.
Looking Ahead
While Oracle’s outlook appears increasingly bright, some analysts caution against overexuberance. The company still faces stiff competition in the AI infrastructure space, and any slowdown in enterprise AI adoption could curb its momentum.
Additionally, macroeconomic headwinds and uncertainty around U.S. trade policy could affect global tech demand. Analysts warn that a renewed trade war or additional tariffs could raise the cost of cloud infrastructure build-outs, delaying investment timelines.
However, for now, Oracle appears to be in a strong position. Its growing reputation as an AI-forward cloud provider has opened up new revenue streams and investor confidence is surging.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Schulman added. “Oracle has reinvented itself just in time for the AI revolution—and Wall Street is taking notice.”
