Oracle Shares Surge 12% as AI Cloud Services Drive Strong 2025 Revenue Forecast

Shares of Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) surged more than 12% intra-day today after the tech giant projected stronger-than-expected revenue growth for its fiscal 2025, highlighting robust demand for its artificial intelligence cloud services.

The company announced new partnerships with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Google Cloud, aiming to enhance the reach of its AI infrastructure. This move comes as Oracle continues to invest heavily in AI technology, particularly through its acquisition of chips from Nvidia, a leader in the AI space. Oracle is intensifying efforts to expand its cloud business to compete with major players like Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon Web Services, both of which have strong AI components.

During a post-earnings call with analysts, CEO Safra Catz expressed optimism about the company's cloud services, predicting double-digit sales growth in the current fiscal year. This outlook surpasses analysts' forecasts of a 9% increase for 2025, up from 6% growth in 2024. For the first quarter, Oracle expects revenue growth of 5% to 7%, though analysts had anticipated a 7.6% increase.

Catz emphasized that Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is poised to meet increasing demand, which should drive faster growth in each successive quarter. She noted the company's growing momentum, with its pipeline expanding at a faster rate than bookings and higher win rates in the market.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, Oracle reported adjusted earnings of $1.63 per share on revenue of $14.29 billion, falling short of Wall Street's expectations of $1.65 per share on $14.6 billion in revenue. However, Oracle's remaining performance obligations, an important measure of booked revenue, rose by 44% year-over-year to $98 billion.