The Oracle logo is displayed on a building at an Oracle campus in Redwood Shores, California, Sept. 10, 2025.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Oracle filed plans on Monday to issue new stock and more debt to finance its artificial intelligence buildout.
The hyperscaler will sell $10 billion in common stock and $10 billion in senior notes, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the fundraising was already outlined at an investor day last week, shares tumbled more than 6% Monday.
"This seems to be exactly what they previewed," said Rob Oliver, senior research analyst at Baird. "So I'm not sure why the market is freaking about it."
Oracle said it plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures, repayments of debt and future investments.
Oracle's one-day performance
The hyperscaler's stock initially bounced after last Wednesday's investor day, when Oracle also issued a revenue forecast of at least $225 billion for fiscal 2030. At the time Oracle also said it was limiting its additional capital market funding for the fiscal 2027 to 2030 investment cycle to that $20 billion.
"This is a major relief given concerns about the state of debt markets and the cost of capital (although UBS has argued that these debt market concerns have been over-stated)," UBS analyst Karl Keirstead said in a note on Thursday.
Oracle plans to turn to vendor financing, customer-provided hardware and customer prepayments to help it transition to positive free cash flow, which it expects to reach in the second half of 2028.
Stock and bonds in Oracle, co-founded by former CEO Larry Ellison, have been under pressure amid growing investor concerns about the massive amount of debt being taken on to fund AI infrastructure.
Oracle shares are down 33% in 2026 and 50% over the past 12 months. The yield on its investment-grade 4.95% bond due in 2031 is currently 7.267%.
The sentiment shift is also seen in Oracle's five-year credit default swaps, which are insurance against default. The spread sits at 296, up 270% in one year. That's more in line with a high-end junk bond rating, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's Gavan Nolan.
Oracle's five-year credit default swaps on Nov. 2, 2026
While still an investment-grade credit, Oracle was downgraded by S&P to a BBB- in July, one rating level above high yield. It has $125.34 billion in debt, as of Aug. 31, with the bulk in senior notes.
What ultimately matters for Oracle is execution, Pat Nerney, head of investment solutions at Dynasty Financial Partners, said in an email to CNBC Monday.
"Can they do what they say they are going to do? We view this as the narrative across the AI space," he said. "If this gets executed according to plans laid out, they will be rewarded. If they have to come back to market in the back half of '27 after telling everyone this was the last of the capital needed ... look out."
— CNBC's Seema Mody and Ari Levy contributed reporting.