Oracle stock exploded more than 30% in premarket trading Wednesday after the company’s CEO unveiled a game-changing forecast: $144 billion in cloud revenue by 2030, powered by artificial intelligence.
The dramatic projection left analysts speechless—and investors bullish. Shares jumped from around $241 to more than $315, setting Oracle up for its biggest single-day gain since the dot-com boom.
AI demand drives cloud growth forecast
CEO Safra Catz announced the staggering outlook during the company’s Q1 FY2026 earnings call:
- Cloud Infrastructure Revenue expected to grow from $18B this year to:
- $32B (FY2027)
- $73B (FY2028)
- $114B (FY2029)
- $144B (FY2030)
- Oracle’s remaining performance obligations (RPO)—a measure of booked, but not yet recognized, revenue—jumped 359% year-over-year to $455 billion
Catz said the growth is fueled by a wave of multibillion-dollar contracts, including one reportedly tied to OpenAI.
Analysts react: ‘We’re all kind of in shock’
Wall Street analysts responded with rare enthusiasm:
- Deutsche Bank’s Brad Zelnick: “There’s no better evidence of a seismic shift happening in computing.”
- Guggenheim’s John DiFucci: “I’m sort of blown away.”
- TD Cowen’s Derrick Wood: Called it a “momentous quarter”
Despite a slight miss on revenue and EPS—Oracle reported $14.9B in revenue and $1.47 EPS, just shy of forecasts—analysts focused on future growth, not backward-looking metrics.
Oracle takes on Amazon, Microsoft, and Google
The company is aggressively scaling its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to compete with the biggest players:
- Oracle has secured large volumes of Nvidia GPUs, powering AI data centers
- It signed deals with OpenAI, xAI, Meta, and others
- Capital spending is projected to hit $35 billion in 2026—up 65% from 2025
Unlike competitors who own buildings, Oracle focuses on the tech stack and infrastructure, giving it a more agile expansion model.
Not without risks
Despite the euphoria, some experts warned of long-term execution risks:
- D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria said Oracle may benefit from overflow demand from Microsoft and Google—raising questions about organic growth
- He noted: “These are not organic customers… This is Microsoft, Google, and Amazon’s customers that will use Oracle capacity.”
Still, he admitted the numbers were “absolutely staggering” and reflected a seismic shift in how AI workloads are distributed across cloud providers.
Oracle stock: A tech star in 2025
Heading into this week’s report, Oracle shares were already up 46% year-to-date. After this latest spike:
- Oracle’s market cap is expected to surpass $870 billion
- The stock is set to break its record closing high of $256.43
- If gains hold, it would mark Oracle’s biggest daily percentage gain since 1999
With AI reshaping the cloud landscape, Oracle has positioned itself as a dominant second-wave player—and Wall Street is watching closely.