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Tag: Oracle

  • It isn’t your imagination: Google Cloud is flooding the zone | TechCrunch

    The $100 billion partnership between Nvidia and OpenAI, announced Monday, represents – for now – the latest mega-deal reshaping the AI infrastructure landscape. The agreement involves non-voting shares tied to massive chip purchases and enough computing power for more than 5 million U.S. households, deepening the relationship between two of AI’s most powerful players.

    Meanwhile, Google Cloud is placing a different bet entirely. While the industry’s biggest players cement ever-tighter partnerships, Google Cloud is hellbent on capturing the next generation of AI companies before they become too big to court.

    Francis deSouza, its COO, has seen the AI revolution from multiple vantage points. As the former CEO of genomics giant Illumina, he watched machine learning transform drug discovery. As co-founder of a two-year-old AI alignment startup, Synth Labs, he has grappled with the safety challenges of increasingly powerful models. Now, having joined the C-suite at Google Cloud in January, he’s orchestrating a massive wager on AI’s second wave.

    It’s a story deSouza likes to tell in numbers. In a conversation with this editor, he notes several times that nine out of the top 10 AI labs use Google’s infrastructure. He also says that nearly all generative AI unicorns run on Google Cloud, that 60% of all gen AI startups worldwide have chosen Google as their cloud provider, and that the company has lined up $58 billion in new revenue commitments over the next two years, which represents more than double its current annual run rate.

    Asked what percentage of Google Cloud’s revenue comes from AI companies, he offers instead that “AI is resetting the cloud market, and Google Cloud is leading the way, especially with startups.”

    The Nvidia-OpenAI deal exemplifies the scale of consolidation sweeping AI infrastructure. Microsoft’s original $1 billion OpenAI investment has grown to nearly $14 billion. Amazon followed with $8 billion in Anthropic investments, securing deep hardware customizations that essentially tailor AI training to work better with Amazon’s infrastructure. Oracle has emerged as a surprise winner, too, landing a $30 billion cloud deal with OpenAI and then securing a jaw-dropping $300 billion five-year commitment starting in 2027.

    Even Meta, despite building its own infrastructure, signed a $10 billion deal with Google Cloud while planning $600 billion in U.S. infrastructure spending through 2028. The Trump administration’s $500 billion “Stargate” project, involving SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, adds another layer to these interlocking partnerships.

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    These gigantic deals might seem threatening for Google, given the partnerships that companies like OpenAI and Nvidia appear to be cementing elsewhere. In fact, it looks a lot like Google is being cut out of some frenzied dealmaking. 

    The Google logo appears during a meeting between Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at Google for Startups in Warsaw, Poland, on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Image Credits:Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto / Getty Images

    But the corporate behemoth isn’t exactly sitting on its hands. Instead, Google Cloud is signing smaller companies like Loveable and Windsurf — what deSouza calls the “next generation of companies coming up”– as “primary computing partners” without major upfront investments.

    The approach reflects both opportunity and necessity. In a market where companies can go “from being a startup to being a multi-billion dollar company in a very short period of time,” as deSouza puts it, capturing future unicorns before they mature could prove more valuable than fighting over today’s giants.

    The strategy extends beyond simple customer acquisition. Google offers AI startups $350,000 in cloud credits, access to its technical teams, and go-to-market support through its marketplace. Google Cloud also provides what deSouza describes as a “no compromise” AI stack – from chips to models to applications – with an “open ethos” that gives customers choice at every layer.

    “Companies love the fact that they can get access to our AI stack, they can get access to our teams to understand where our technologies are going,” deSouza says during our interview. “They also love that they’re getting access to enterprise grade Google class infrastructure.”

    Google’s infrastructure play got even more ambitious recently, with reporting revealing the company’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering to expand its custom AI chip business. According to The Information, Google has struck deals to place its tensor processing units (TPUs) in other cloud providers’ data centers for the first time, including an agreement with London-based Fluidstack that includes up to $3.2 billion in financial backing for a New York facility.

    Competing directly with AI companies while simultaneously providing them infrastructure requires — let’s call it — finesse. Google Cloud provides TPU chips to OpenAI and hosts Anthropic’s Claude model through its Vertex AI platform, even as its own Gemini models compete head-to-head with both. (Google Cloud’s parent company, Alphabet, also owns a 14% stake in Anthropic, per New York Times court documents obtained earlier this year, though when asked directly about Google’s financial relationship with Anthropic, deSouza calls the relationship a “multi-layered partnership” then quickly redirects me to Google Cloud’s model marketplace – noting that customers can access various foundation models.)

    But if Google is trying to be Switzerland while advancing its own agenda, it has had plenty of practice. The approach has roots in Google’s open-source contributions, from Kubernetes to the foundational “Attention is All You Need” paper that enabled the transformer architecture underlying most modern AI. More recently, Google published an open-source protocol called Agent-to-Agent (A2A) for inter-agent communication in an attempt to demonstrate its continued commitment to openness even in competitive areas.

    “We have made the explicit choice over the years to be open at every layer of the stack, and we know that this means companies can absolutely take our technology and use it to build a competitor at the next layer,” deSouza acknowledges. “That’s been happening for decades. That’s something we are okay with.”

    Google Cloud’s courtship of startups comes at a particularly interesting moment. Just this month, federal judge Amit Mehta delivered a nuanced ruling in the government’s five-year-old search monopoly case, attempting to curb Google’s dominance without hampering its AI ambitions.

    While Google avoided the Justice Department’s most severe proposed penalties, including the forced divestment of its Chrome browser, the ruling underscored regulatory concerns about the company leveraging its search monopoly to dominate AI. Critics are worried, understandably, that Google’s vast trove of search data provides an unfair advantage in developing AI systems, and that the company could deploy the same monopolistic tactics that secured its search dominance.

    In conversation, deSouza is focused on far more positive outcomes. “I think we have an opportunity to fundamentally understand some of the major diseases that today we just don’t have a good understanding of,” deSouza says, for example, outlining a vision where Google Cloud helps power research into Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and climate technologies. “We want to work very hard to make sure that we are pioneering the technologies that will enable that work.”

    Critics may not easily be assuaged. By positioning itself as an open platform that empowers rather than controls the next generation of AI companies, Google Cloud may be showing regulators that it fosters competition rather than stifles it, all while forging relationships with startups that might help Google’s case if regulators ramp up pressure.

    For our full chat with deSouza, check out this week’s StrictlyVC Download podcast; a new episode comes out every Tuesday.

    Connie Loizos

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  • OpenAI Teams Up With Oracle and SoftBank to Build 5 New Stargate Data Centers

    OpenAI is planning to build five new data centers in the United States as part of the Stargate initiative, the company announced on Tuesday. The sites, which are being developed in partnership with Oracle and SoftBank, bring Stargate’s current planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts—roughly the same amount of power as seven large-scale nuclear reactors.

    “AI is different from the internet in a lot of ways, but one of them is just how much infrastructure it takes,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said during a press briefing in Abilene, Texas, on Tuesday. He argued that the US “cannot fall behind on this” and the “innovative spirit” of Texas provides a model for how to scale “bigger, faster, cheaper, better.”

    Three of the new sites, in Shackelford County, Texas; Doña Ana County, New Mexico; and a yet-to-be-disclosed location in the Midwest, are being developed in partnership with Oracle. The move follows an agreement Oracle and OpenAI announced in July to develop up to 4.5 gigawatts of US data center capacity on top of what the two companies are already building at the first Stargate facility in Abilene.

    OpenAI claims the new data centers, along with a planned 600 megawatt expansion of the Abilene site, will create more than 25,000 onsite jobs, though the number of workers required to build data centers typically dwarfs the amount needed to maintain them afterwards.

    The two remaining sites are being helmed by OpenAI and SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary that develops solar and battery projects. These are located in Lordstown, Ohio, and Milam County, Texas.

    Stargate is one of several major US technology infrastructure projects that have been announced since President Donald Trump took office at the start of the year. OpenAI said in January that the $500 billion, 10 gigawatt commitment between the ChatGPT maker, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX would “secure American leadership in AI” and “create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.”

    Trump touted the mammoth initiative just two days after he returned to the White House, promising that it would accelerate American progress in artificial intelligence and help the US compete against China and other nations. In July, Trump announced an AI action plan that called for speedy infrastructure development and limited red tape as the US tries to beat other countries in the quest for advanced AI. “We believe we’re in an AI race,” White House AI czar David Sacks said at the time. “We want the United States to win that race.”

    OpenAI initially framed Stargate as a “new company” that would be chaired by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son. Now, however, executives close to the project say it’s an umbrella brand name used to refer to all of OpenAI’s data center projects—except those developed in partnership with Microsoft.

    The flagship site in Abilene is primarily owned and operated by Oracle, with OpenAI acting as the primary tenant, according to executives close to the project. The buildout, which is being managed by the data center startup Crusoe, is on track to be completed by mid-2026, sources close to the project say. It is already running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and supporting OpenAI training and inference workloads, those sources add.

    Zoë Schiffer, Will Knight, Lauren Goode

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  • Oracle founder Larry Ellison has pledged to give away 95% of his $393B fortune—but sudden leadership changes fuel a mystery | Fortune

    Oracle founder and potential TikTok overlord Larry Ellison’s current net worth is estimated at $393 billion, making him the second-richest person in the world in 2025, only behind Elon Musk. His fortune has grown rapidly due to massive gains in Oracle’s stock, driven by the AI boom, and a significant stake in Tesla.

    Ellison pledged to donate 95% of his wealth as part of the Giving Pledge in 2010. Since then, he’s distanced himself from traditional nonprofits and says he’s opting to give away wealth on his own terms. He founded the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), a for-profit philanthropic organization at The University of Oxford.

    But Ellison’s EIT has recently been destabilized by leadership changes, according to a report in The New York Times. In 2024, he hired scientist John Bell to head the research. But in August, Ellison announced he had hired former University of Michigan President Santa Ono to “collaborate” with Bell. Just two weeks later, Bell announced his departure from the “very challenging project.”

    The Times reports there are tensions over “how best to commercialize Mr. Ellison’s scientific research, along with persistent questions about how much the institute could trust Mr. Ellison to deliver on his financial commitments.”

    Here’s what we know—and don’t—about Ellison’s plans to give away his fortune eventually.

    Net worth (2025)

    Philanthropy and plans for giving

    Amounts already given and future commitment

    Ellison’s net worth has reached record highs in 2025, and though he has pledged to give away almost all of it, his giving is uniquely structured—focusing on large self-driven projects such as the Ellison Institute, rather than broad public charity.

    For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.

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    Ashley Lutz

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  • Oracle Appoints Co-CEOs to Replace Longtime Leader Safra Catz

    Clay Magouyrk (L) and Mike Sicilia (R) will combine their strengths in cloud infrastructure and applications as Oracle’s new co-CEOs. Courtesy Oracle

    Oracle has appointed not just one, but two new CEOs to help the software giant maintain momentum as it rides the A.I. revolution to unprecedented highs. The top executive role, currently filled by Safra Catz, will be jointly taken up by insiders Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia going forward, announced Oracle today (Sep. 22). The two leaders will be charged with guiding Oracle at a pivotal time for the tech player as it leans heavily into providing the cloud infrastructure required to power A.I. It’s already benefitted handsomely from a newfound demand for data centers, with the A.I. boom lifting its shares by nearly 95 percent this year, propelling its founder Larry Ellison’s net worth to new heights and giving rise to some of the largest cloud contracts in history. Both of Oracle’s new leaders have the credentials to back up the company’s A.I. shift. Magouyrk, head of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure team, has overseen the rollout of platforms powering A.I. data centers, while Sicilia formerly led Oracle’s applications business and steered teams integrating industry-specific A.I. agents across areas like healthcare, banking and communications.

    “A few years ago, Clay and Mike committed Oracle’s Infrastructure and Application businesses to A.I.—it’s paying off,” said Ellison, who serves as Oracle’s chairman and chief technology officer, in a statement. “They are both proven leaders, and I am looking forward to spending the coming years working side-by-side with them.” While co-CEOs remain unusual in Silicon Valley, this isn’t the first time Oracle has dabbled with a joint leadership structure. After Ellison stepped down as CEO in 2014, Catz was appointed to the role alongside Mark Hurd and remained on as the sole chief executive after Hurd’s passing in 2019.

    Woman in green blazer sits onstage in chairWoman in green blazer sits onstage in chair
    Safra Catz helmed Oracle for more than a decade. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    Catz, who will also be passing on her principal financial officer position to Doug Kehring, is staying on at Oracle as executive vice chair of its board of directors. Her 11-year tenure as the software company’s CEO was most recently marked by a surge across its cloud business, which generated some $3.3 billion in cloud infrastructure revenue during the July-August quarter to represent a 55 percent year-over-year increase. That figure will rise to a total of $18 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, according to Oracle’s forecasts, and increase to $32 billion, $73 billion, $114 billion and $144 billion over the following four years.

    Behind Oracle’s ballooning fortunes is an unrelenting demand from A.I. developers to secure computing capacity. Over the most recent quarter, Oracle signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers and reported that its performance obligations from existing contracts surged to $455 billion—up 359 percent compared to the prior year. One of its most significant deals to date includes a recently announced agreement to provide OpenAI with $300 billion worth of computing power over the next five years as part of the ChatGPT-maker’s Stargate venture.

    Earlier this month, Oracle’s A.I. dominance culminated in a share gain that sent its stock flying in the company’s biggest one-day percentage jump since 1992 and briefly made Ellison the world’s wealthiest person in the world. “Oracle’s technology and business have never been stronger,” said Catz in a statement, adding that the company’s “breathtaking growth rate points to an even more prosperous future.”

    Beyond Oracle’s A.I. ambitions, the tech company is also set to play a role in a looming deal that will see the Chinese-owned TikTok sell its U.S. arm to a consortium of American investors. Under an arrangement overseen by the Trump administration, Oracle will be responsible for recreating TikTok’s algorithm by retraining a new U.S. version, said White House officials today.

    Oracle Appoints Co-CEOs to Replace Longtime Leader Safra Catz

    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Build-A-Bear Workshop Outpaces Nvidia, Microsoft, Oracle | Entrepreneur

    Nvidia may be the most valuable company in the world, surging to a record-high $4.395 trillion market capitalization over the past few months, but when it comes to stock growth, one surprising company has it beat: Build-A-Bear Workshop.

    Build-A-Bear’s stock grew by more than 2,000% over the past five years, making it one of the top 20 companies in the world by share growth, per The Washington Post. Company shares are up over 60% year-to-date at the time of writing. According to Build-A-Bear’s earnings report for the second quarter ending August 2, total revenue hit $124.2 million, an 11% increase from the same period last year. It was the company’s most profitable second quarter in its history.

    Build-A-Bear’s stock growth beats the world’s biggest tech giants, such as Nvidia (surged by over 1,300% in the past five years, with shares up over 30% year-to-date); Microsoft (stock grew by 147% across the past five years); and Oracle (stock swelled 444% across the same time period).

    Related: How Labubu Outsold Barbie and Hot Wheels — and Will Help Parent Company Pop Mart Earn $4 Billion This Year

    At Build-A-Bear, customers stuff a plush toy, add a toy heart, and dress the stuffed animal. The company was founded in October 1997 in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the experience in stores has remained consistent since its founding.

    The company’s CEO, Sharon Price John, who took over in 2013, told CNBC that the process of making a bear is “a really emotional, memorable experience that creates a tremendous amount of equity.” The store’s in-person experience contributes to its resilience, even as other mall stores like Claire’s close hundreds of locations.

    Build-A-Bear Workshop in Denver, Colorado. Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images

    “Those strong feelings that consumers have for brands are very stretchable beyond just that one experience,” John told the outlet.

    University of Pennsylvania Marketing Professor Americus Reed told CNBC that the “ritualistic” process of creating a stuffed animal at Build-A-Bear creates a memorable experience that is “really hard to replicate.” Build-A-Bear creates a deeper connection with its customers, building a sense of loyalty, Reed explained.

    Related: The Lego Resale Market Is Reportedly Thriving — And Some Sets Can Fetch Over $15,000

    Zach Wray, a customer whose family has hundreds of bears, told The Washington Post that the experience of creating a stuffed animal is what keeps his kids coming back to Build-A-Bear.

    “They make it really special for the kids,” Wray told the outlet.

    Nostalgia also plays a role in the company’s growth. A recent survey released by Build-A-Bear earlier this month shows that 92% of adults still have their childhood stuffed animal, and nearly 100% say that teddy bears are for all ages. Two-fifths (40%) of Build-A-Bear’s customers are adults, not kids, according to The Washington Post.

    Build-A-Bear has 627 stores across 32 countries, 100 of which opened within the past two years. The company told The Washington Post that it plans to open 60 more locations this year, and that almost all of its stores in North America were profitable.

    Related: This Mom’s Side Hustle Selling a $600 Children’s Toy Became a Business Making Over $1 Million a Year: ‘There Is a Lot to Love’

    Nvidia may be the most valuable company in the world, surging to a record-high $4.395 trillion market capitalization over the past few months, but when it comes to stock growth, one surprising company has it beat: Build-A-Bear Workshop.

    Build-A-Bear’s stock grew by more than 2,000% over the past five years, making it one of the top 20 companies in the world by share growth, per The Washington Post. Company shares are up over 60% year-to-date at the time of writing. According to Build-A-Bear’s earnings report for the second quarter ending August 2, total revenue hit $124.2 million, an 11% increase from the same period last year. It was the company’s most profitable second quarter in its history.

    Build-A-Bear’s stock growth beats the world’s biggest tech giants, such as Nvidia (surged by over 1,300% in the past five years, with shares up over 30% year-to-date); Microsoft (stock grew by 147% across the past five years); and Oracle (stock swelled 444% across the same time period).

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    Sherin Shibu

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  • The billion-dollar infrastructure deals powering the AI boom | TechCrunch

    It takes a lot of computing power to run an AI product – and as the tech industry races to tap the power of AI models, there’s a parallel race underway to build the infrastructure that will power them. On a recent earnings call, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang estimated that between $3 and $4 trillion will be spent on AI infrastructure by the end of the decade – with much of that money coming from AI companies themselves. Along the way, they’re placing immense strain on power grids, and pushing the industry’s building capacity to its limit.

    Below, we’ve laid out everything we know about the biggest AI infrastructure projects, including major spending from Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI. We’ll keep it updated as the boom continues, and the numbers climb even higher.

    Microsoft’s $1 billion investment in OpenAI

    This is arguably the deal that kicked off the whole contemporary AI boom: in 2019, Microsoft made a $1 billion investment in a buzzy non-profit called OpenAI, known mostly for its association with Elon Musk. Crucially, the deal made Microsoft the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI – and as the demands of model-training became more intense, more of Microsoft’s investment started to come in the form of Azure cloud credit rather than cash. It was a great deal for both sides: Microsoft was able to claim more Azure sales, and OpenAI got more money for its biggest single expense. In the years that followed, Microsoft would build its investment up to nearly $14 billion – a move that is set to pay off enormously when OpenAI converts into a for-profit company.

    The partnership between the two companies has unwound more recently. In January, OpenAI announced it would no longer be using Microsoft’s cloud exclusively, instead giving the company a right of first refusal on future infrastructure demands but pursuing others if Azure couldn’t meet their needs. More recently, Microsoft began exploring other foundation models to power its AI products, establishing even more independence from the AI giant.

    OpenAI’s arrangement with Microsoft was so successful that it’s become a common practice for AI services to sign on with a particular cloud provider. Anthropic has received $8 billion in investment from Amazon, while making kernel-level modifications on the company’s hardware to make it better-suited for AI training. Google Cloud has also signed on smaller AI companies like Loveable and Windsurf as “primary computing partners,” although those deals did not involve any investment. And even OpenAI has gone back to the well, receiving a $100 billion investment from Nvidia in September, giving it capacity to buy even more of the company’s GPUs.

    The rise of Oracle

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    On June 30th 2025, Oracle revealed in an SEC filing that it had signed a $30 billion cloud services deal with an unnamed partner, more than the company’s cloud revenues for all of the previous fiscal year. OpenAI was eventually revealed as the partner, securing Oracle a spot alongside Google as one of the OpenAI’s string of post-Microsoft hosting partners. Unsurprisingly, the company’s stock went shooting up.

    A few months later, it happened again. On September 10th, Oracle revealed a five-year, $300 billion deal for compute power, set to begin in 2027. Oracle’s stock climbed even higher, briefly making founder Larry Ellison the richest man in the world. The sheer scale of the deal is stunning: OpenAI does not have $300 billion to spend, so the figure presumes immense growth for both companies, and more than a little faith. But before a single dollar is spent, the deal has already cemented Oracle as one of the leading AI infrastructure providers – and a financial force to be reckoned with.

    Building tomorrow’s hyperscale data centers

    For companies like Meta that already have significant legacy infrastructure, the story is more complicated – although equally expensive. Mark Zuckerberg has said that Meta plans to spend $600 billion on US infrastructure through the end of 2028. In just the first half of 2025, the company spent $30 billion more than the previous year, driven largely by the company’s growing AI ambitions. Some of that spending goes toward big ticket cloud contracts, like a recent $10 billion deal with Google Cloud, but even more resources are being poured into two massive new data centers. A new 2,250-acre site in Louisiana, dubbed Hyperion, will cost an estimated $10 billion to build out and provide an estimated 5 gigawatts of compute power. Notably, the site includes an arrangement with a local nuclear power plant to handle the increased energy load. A smaller site in Ohio, called Prometheus, is expected to come online in 2026, powered by natural gas. 

    That kind of buildout comes with real environmental costs. Elon Musk’s xAI built its own hybrid data center and power-generation plant in South Memphis, Tennessee. The plant has quickly become one of the county’s largest emitters of smog-producing chemicals, thanks to a string of natural gas turbines that experts say violate the Clean Air Act.

    The Stargate moonshot

    Just two days after his second inauguration, President Trump announced a joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle, meant to spend $500 billion building AI infrastructure in the United States. Named “Stargate” after the 1994 film, the project arrived with incredible amounts of hype, with Trump calling it “the largest AI infrastructure project in history. Sam Altman seemed to agree, saying, ​​”I think this will be the most important project of this era.” 

    In broad strokes, the plan was for SoftBank to provide the funding, with Oracle handling the buildout with input from OpenAI. Overseeing it all was Trump, who promised to clear away any regulatory hurdles that might slow down the build. But there were doubts from the beginning, including from Elon Musk, Altman’s business rival, who claimed the project did not have the available funds.

    As the hype has died down, the project has lost some momentum. In August, Bloomberg reported that the partners were failing to reach consensus. Nonetheless, the project has moved forward with the construction of eight data centers in Abilene, Texas, with construction on the final building set to be finished by the end of 2026.

    Russell Brandom

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  • Trump Gives Suspiciously Vague Update on TikTok Deal

    On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that negotiators from the U.S. and China had agreed on a “framework” for a deal that would give an American company control of TikTok. And while most people assumed we would hear about the details this week, we’ve arrived at Friday, and it’s still unclear what might be happening with the video-sharing platform.

    President Donald Trump held a call with President Xi Jinping of China on Friday to discuss a range of topics. Trump mentioned TikTok twice in a new Truth Social post Friday about the call, but anyone trying to read between the lines on what it means for ownership of the TikTok brand is going to struggle.

    “I just completed a very productive call with President Xi of China. We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” Trump wrote in his typically unusual style.

    “I also agreed with President Xi that we would meet at the APEC Summit in South Korea, that I would go to China in the early part of next year, and that President Xi would, likewise, come to the United States at an appropriate time,” Trump continued.

    “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!” Trump wrote.

    And that’s it. No proclamation about some U.S.-based company like Oracle taking charge of TikTok. No bragging about how he got a great deal that would’ve been impossible under Biden. He didn’t even hint at the U.S. government taking a stake and how much control he would be able to wield under such an arrangement. All we got was “appreciate the TikTok approval,” which leaves so many questions.

    The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz were all working together to take an 80% stake in TikTok. The newspaper explained that the new company controlling U.S. TikTok would have an “American-dominated board,” with one board member appointed by the Trump regime. But we can assume that whatever is getting hashed out between Oracle and Chinese leadership at TikTok hasn’t been agreed on yet. Because, again, there’s nothing Trump loves more than taking credit for a deal.

    The road for TikTok has been a bumpy one in the U.S. ever since Trump signed an executive order trying to ban the social media platform during his first term. That got tied up in the courts and fizzled out during the early years of Biden’s presidency.

    But then Congress passed a law in 2024, signed by Biden, that said Bytedance would be required to sell TikTok to U.S. interests or be banned entirely in the U.S. The first deadline for that to happen was Jan. 19, the day before Trump was inaugurated for his second term. Trump promised not to enforce the law, and then, when he properly got into office, that deadline was extended until April. Trump signed an executive order extending it again until June. And that was extended still another time until Sept. 17.

    Trump signed another order this week extending the deadline until Dec. 16. None of this seems to be legal, according to most legal experts. You can’t just ignore a law indefinitely and sign executive orders to make it happen. When Congress passes a law, it needs to be implemented. As Politico put it, “the whole situation has no apparent precedent in the annals of American law.”

    It’s not even clear that any deal currently being cooked up would adhere to the 2024 law as written. Chinese officials said this week that the deal they’re working on includes China “licensing the [TikTok] algorithm and other intellectual property rights,” according to the Financial Times. But it’s precisely that algorithm that the law passed by Congress is worried about for “national security” reasons.

    And it sounds like any deal would also require U.S. users to migrate to a new app, though we don’t know what that would look like either. Trump only pulled a 180 on TikTok back in March 2024 during the lead-up to the presidential election. And he insists that it’s because young people on the platform love him. It’s surely a coincidence that Republican mega-donor Jeff Yass, a billionaire with a big investment in ByteDance, was reportedly in Trump’s ear right around the same time.

    What’s next? We don’t know. But given the vibes coming from the White House right now, a deal doesn’t feel imminent. That could change, but there’s no real pressure to get something done quickly, now that Trump has extended the deadline again until December. And if he’s extended it a fourth time with no real pushback from Congress, there’s no reason to think he couldn’t go for number five.

    Matt Novak

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  • OpenAI and Oracle reportedly ink historic cloud computing deal | TechCrunch

    Oracle sent its shares soaring after markets closed yesterday after reporting that it signed multiple multi-billion-dollar contracts with several customers. Now, we have an idea of who those customers might be.

    Oracle signed a deal with OpenAI for the AI company to purchase $300 billion worth of compute power over a span of about five years, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. OpenAI would start purchasing this compute in 2027.

    If the WSJ’s reporting is correct, this would be one of the largest cloud contracts ever signed. Oracle declined to comment. OpenAI did not respond to a request for confirmation or comment.

    Oracle is no stranger to working with OpenAI. OpenAI started tapping Oracle for compute in the summer of 2024. The AI giant also moved further away from exclusively using Microsoft Azure as its only cloud provider in January.

    This move away from Microsoft was timed with OpenAI’s involvement with the Stargate Project, in which OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle have committed to invest $500 billion into domestic data center projects over the next four years.

    OpenAI clearly needs as much compute as it can get. The company reportedly signed a cloud deal with Google, according to Reuters, this spring despite the fact that the two companies are racing against each other for AI supremacy.

    Rebecca Szkutak

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  • After Tension With Washington, Intel Is Suddenly a Hot Asset

    Earlier this month, President Donald Trump publicly called on Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign. Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images

    In its latest push into A.I. and semiconductors, SoftBank yesterday (Aug. 18) announced a $2 billion investment in Intel. The Masayoshi Son-led conglomerate purchased shares at a slight discount—$23 each—giving it about a 2 percent stake in the struggling U.S. chipmaker.

    “For more than 50 years, Intel has been a trusted leader in innovation,” said Son in a statement. “This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the U.S., with Intel playing a critical role.”

    SoftBank, long known for its bold bets, has been particularly aggressive in A.I. It has backed A.I. startups like Perplexity AI and OpenAI, leading a $40 billion funding round for the latter that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion earlier this year. In January, SoftBank also joined OpenAI, Oracle, and others in launching Stargate, a $500 billion initiative aimed at boosting domestic A.I. development over the next four years.

    On the semiconductor front, SoftBank is the majority owner of chip designer Arm and last year acquired Graphcore to position it as a Nvidia rival.The company previously held around 5 percent of Nvidia but sold its stake in 2019, just before the A.I. boom sent the chipmaker’s value soaring. SoftBank has since rebuilt its Nvidia holdings to around $3 billion.

    While surging demand for A.I. chips has made Nvidia the world’s most valuable publicly listed company, Intel has struggled to capitalize on the boom. Once a leader in semiconductor manufacturing, the Santa Clara, Calif-based company has fallen behind rivals in areas like GPUs. After SoftBank revealed its investment, its own shares dropped more than 7 percent today, while Intel shares jumped 7 percent on the news.

    The U.S. eyes a stake in Intel

    Another force bolstering Intel’s share price today is reports that the U.S. government is considering a 10 percent stake in the company. The government is considering converting funds that Intel was supposed to get under the Biden-era Chips and Science Act into an equity stake, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC today.

    The move would add a new twist to the tumultuous relationship between Washington and the semiconductor industry. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump publicly called on Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign, citing alleged conflicts of interest—a demand he walked back after meeting Tan at the White House last week. In August, the administration also announced that Nvidia and AMD could resume exporting chips to China, but only if they pay the U.S. 15 percent of revenue from those sales.

    Tan, who took over as Intel’s chief executive in March, is focused on catching up with competitors by emphasizing engineering, cutting costs and laying off about 25,000 employees throughout 2025. A veteran of the semiconductor industry, Tan has close ties to Son, having previously served on SoftBank’s board until 2022.

    “We are pleased to deepen our relationship with SoftBank, a company that’s at the forefront of so many areas of emerging technology and innovation and shares our commitment to advancing U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership,” said Tan in a statement. “Masa and I have worked closely together for decades, and I appreciate the confidence he has placed in Intel with this investment.”

    After Tension With Washington, Intel Is Suddenly a Hot Asset

    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Oracle cuts jobs in cloud infrastructure unit amid AI spending

    Oracle Corp. is cutting jobs in its closely watched cloud unit, the latest company taking steps to control costs amid heavy spending on AI infrastructure. Impacted workers were told this week that their roles were eliminated, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the reductions were related to performance issues, and the unit […]

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  • Dormant Nuclear Power Plants May Offer a Solution to A.I.’s Energy Problem

    Dormant Nuclear Power Plants May Offer a Solution to A.I.’s Energy Problem

    A view of Three Mile Island in Middletown, Penn., on March 15, 1999. John S. Zeedick/Getty Images

    As A.I. continues to gain steam, so does the amount of electricity it consumes. A ChatGPT query needs nearly 10 times as much electricity as a Google (GOOGL) search query, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs. To meet a soaring demand for A.I. power, some companies are looking at an unprecedented solution—the revival of dormant nuclear power plants.

    Plans to reopen shuttered sites across states like Pennsylvania, Idaho and Michigan for the first time in American history are gaining traction amongst developers. While they face regulatory and financial hurdles, such reopenings could be a favorable option for companies looking to gain momentum in the A.I. race without increasing their carbon footprint.

    One of the plants under consideration is Three Mile Island in Middletown, Penn., the site of the most serious nuclear power plant incident in the U.S. history. In 1979, one of the Three Mile Island’s two units experienced a partial reactor meltdown that spurred sweeping safety regulatory changes across the country. Its owner, Constellation Energy, is looking into a restart and reportedly discussing funding options with state officials and lawmakers.

    The unit in question is the one not involved in the 1979 incident. “We’ve found the plant is in pretty good shape,” Joseph Dominguez, CEO of Constellation, told the Washington Post, adding that its reactors and components are in excellent condition.

    A revival could help meet an unprecedented demand for data centers, which are expected to double their electricity consumption by 2030 to take up to 9 percent of the country’s power supply, according to the Electric Power Institute. Tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Google and Amazon (AMZN) are spending billions on building data centers across the U.S.—in June, Oracle revealed its intention to build some of the world’s largest data centers, while Elon Musk’s xAI unveiled plans to transform a former Tennessee manufacturing facility into a data center that can train its A.I. models.

    More “zombie” nuclear plants are being considered for revival

    These ambitions have coincided with a bump in carbon emissions. Google’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 48 percent between 2019 and 2023. Microsoft in May reported a 29 percent increase in emissions since 2020. Big Tech companies claim they will offset this energy consumption by pursuing carbon neutrality through wind, solar and nuclear sources. In March, for example, Amazon’s cloud unit Amazon Web Services struck a deal with Talen Energy to acquire a Pennsylvania data center powered by a nuclear power station for $650 million.

    Not everyone is as enthusiastic about the prospect of nuclear plants. In the case of Three Mile Island, factors like underfunding and a lack of employees, water, fuel and equipment means that reviving its unit “is a heavy lift,” and one “driven by A.I.,” said Eric Epstein, founder of the nuclear activist group Three Mile Island Alert, in a statement to Observer. But these “marriages of A.I. with zombie plants” are only expected to become more likely, according to Epstein, in light of recent developments like Amazon’s Talen deal and the relaunch of Pennsylvania’s Nuclear Energy Caucus earlier this month.

    Three Mile Island isn’t the only dormant plant that might get a facelift. NextEra Energy is considering rebooting its Duane Arnold Energy Center plant in Palo, Iowa, which it began decommissioning in 2020. “I would consider it, if it could be done safely and on budget,” John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra, told Bloomberg, adding that he expects power demand in the U.S. to rise by 40 percent by 2026. The company is “always looking at the needs of its customers and the best use of our assets, including the Duane Arnold Energy Center,” said Bill Orlove, a NextEra spokesperson, in a statement to Observer.

    And over in Covert, Michican, the region’s mothballed Palisades plant could potentially reopen in the next year with state support and a $1.5 billion federal loan. Holtec International, which acquired the plant in 2022, is looking to recommission it by the end of 2025—a plan that may be incentivizing other developers to follow suit.

    “We’ve obviously seen what happened with Palisades. I think that was brilliant, brilliant for the nation,” said Dominguez while speaking on Constellation Energy’s most recent earnings call when asked about a potential revival of Three Mile Island. “We’re not unaware that that opportunity exists for us.”

    Dormant Nuclear Power Plants May Offer a Solution to A.I.’s Energy Problem

    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • TikTok’s AI efforts reportedly exploit loopholes to use premium Nvidia chips

    TikTok’s AI efforts reportedly exploit loopholes to use premium Nvidia chips

    The US has banned companies like Nvidia from selling their most advanced AI chips to China since 2022. But if loopholes exist, profit-hungry corporations will find and exploit them. The Information published a bombshell report on Thursday detailing how Oracle allows TikTok owner ByteDance to rent Nvidia’s most advanced chips to train AI models on US soil.

    ByteDance, which many US lawmakers believe has direct ties to the Chinese government, is reportedly renting US-based servers containing Nvidia’s coveted H100 chips from US cloud computing company Oracle to train AI models. The practice, which runs against the spirit of the US government’s chip regulations, is technically allowed because Oracle is merely renting out the chips on American soil, not selling them to companies in China.

    The US government has cracked down on exporting the chips to China as an extension of the tensions between the two nations. The Biden Administration fears the nation could use advanced AI for military or surveillance purposes or to gain an economic upper hand. The US government passed bipartisan legislation in April that will force ByteDance to either sell its US operations or face a ban. But ByteDance still has until early next year to close a deal, and it’s suing the US government, which could delay enforcement.

    Although ByteDance is training its models in the US, “it could be difficult to stop them from sending the models they produced back to their headquarters in China,” according to US-based cloud providers and a former Nvidia employee who spoke to The Information. Quite the loophole, indeed.

    ByteDance’s Project Texas initiative, which the company claims siloes off TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese leadership to allay US fears, is at the heart of the arrangement. However, former ByteDance employees have described Project Texas as “largely cosmetic,” as they claim the company’s US wing regularly works closely with its Beijing-based leadership.

    ByteDance isn’t the only Chinese company looking to game the rules. The Information says Alibaba and Tencent are discussing similar arrangements to gain access to the sought-after chips. Those deals could be harder to squash because they have their own US-based data centers and wouldn’t have to rent servers from American companies.

    A building at Oracle headquarters with the company's logo. Dusky blue sky.

    US cloud computing company Oracle reportedly enables ByteDance’s training of AI models in the US. (Oracle)

    Not every company has been as willing as Oracle to skirt the law’s intent. “Two small American cloud providers” reportedly turned down offers to rent servers with Nvidia’s H100 chips to ByteDance and China Telecom because “they seemed to go against the spirit of U.S. chip restrictions.” However, Oracle, cofounded by American businessman Larry Ellison and run by current CEO Safra Catz, apparently found the opportunity for profit through technically legal workarounds too tempting to pass up.

    The US Commerce Department, the bureau that could close the loophole, may already be aware of the practices. Earlier this year, the department proposed a rule that would require US cloud providers to verify foreign customers’ identities and notify the US if any of them were training AI models that “could be used in malicious cyber-enabled activity.” However, the Commerce Department recently said most cloud providers disapproved of the proposal, claiming “the burden of additional requirements might outweigh the intended benefit.” In the meantime, the proposed rule, which could theoretically plug the loophole, remains in limbo.

    But even if the US manages to shut down that exploit, The Information says it wouldn’t cover Chinese cloud providers like Tencent and Alibaba from buying Nvidia’s chips and using them to train AI models in their own US-based data centers. The Commerce Department will have its hands full figuring this one out as business and defense interests wrestle for control.

    Will Shanklin

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  • Oracle Stock Falls After Earnings Report Disappoints

    Oracle Stock Falls After Earnings Report Disappoints

    Oracle shares were heading sharply lower in late trading Monday after the enterprise software giant posted November quarter financial results that fell short of both the company’s own guidance and consensus Street estimates.

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  • 3 Reasons This Sleeping Giant Is About To Wake Up | Entrepreneur

    3 Reasons This Sleeping Giant Is About To Wake Up | Entrepreneur

    IBM (NYSE: IBM), or Big Blue as it’s known on Wall Street, is the tech giant that people love to hate. Despite holding one of the longest track records of all currently publicly traded tech companies out there, having IPO’d before the moon landing, its shares have built up a nasty reputation for trading sideways. 

    After having been public for 14 years by 1982, IBM stock was still at its IPO price and was back there again in 1994. There were some gains in the meantime, but these, too, were characterized by long periods of sideways action. Investors getting involved during the Dot Com bubble in 1998 could have sold their shares for the same price in 2008.

    And for those of us taking a fresh look right now, it appears their habits haven’t changed much. IBM stock is currently trading at 2015 levels, having traded in a tight range over the intervening years. 

    It’s easy to dismiss IBM as a dinosaur that might be better confined to the dustbin of history, but once you look beyond the initial impression, the details tell a different story. Leaving aside the company’s not-so-great share price habits across the years, there are signs that a new IBM is starting to emerge. The team over at JP Morgan was one of the first who cottoned onto this over the summer. 

    Technology Transformation

    What the analysts called the company’s continued transformation was continuing to pick up steam, while the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) as a new and red-hot industry was providing a welcome tailwind. It’s still fairly recent that IBM completed the spinoff of its managed infrastructure services business Kyndryl, and since then there’s been a seismic shift in its revenue profile. More than 70% of its revenues are coming from its high-growth software and consulting business, making it much more like the Amazon.com, Inc’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Oracle Corp’s (NYSE: ORCL) of the world. Who says a leopard can’t change its spots?

    There’s a lot of work still to be done though to convince Wall Street that a new IBM is in town. The company has consistently lagged behind its peers in stock performance, and this will have to change if it is to have any hope of attacking the highs from 2013. But there’s no doubt IBM is working hard to make this happen, and analysts are noticing. 

    Bullish Comments

    This week saw a fresh upgrade from RBC Capital, who on Wednesday initiated their coverage on IBM stock with an Outperform rating. Analyst Matthew Swanson and his team are impressed with what they called the strength of IBM’s software platform. With networks becoming more and more complex since the pandemic, IBM is suddenly in a strong position to benefit from this shift. 

    His price target of $188 points to an upside of some 30% from where shares closed on Thursday. Were the stock to hit this in the coming months, it would mean it’s well on its way to firmly breaking out of the 10-year range the stock has been stuck in. 

    Another thing to like about IBM is that it still feels like you’re getting a good deal right now. Jim Cramer pointed this out on CNBC this week, saying, “IBM is very inexpensive, so you can bet that it’s off to the races”. In many ways, they have been since before summer. 

    Technical Setup

    Since May this year, IBM stock has already tacked on 25% and is close to its highest levels since 2018. The rally has, in many ways, been going since 2020. It might lack the triple-digit gains some of its tech peers might have delivered in that timeframe, but it’s been a strong rally nonetheless when you remember IBM’s prevalence for going sideways. The rally has been characterized by higher highs and higher lows, both of which together tend to form the basis for long and extended rallies. 

    Shares need to get above last December’s peak to confirm the next leg has begun, but they’re only 4% away from that level. Investors getting involved will also benefit from one of the best dividend yields out there when it comes to big tech. 4.5% is nothing to shy away from, especially when shares are ticking up as consistently as IBM’s are in recent months. 

    Sam Quirke

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  • Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Oracle Co.’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NYSE:ORCL)

    Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Oracle Co.’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NYSE:ORCL)

    Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Free Report) – Equities research analysts at William Blair issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Oracle in a research report issued on Tuesday, September 12th. William Blair analyst S. Naji forecasts that the enterprise software provider will post earnings of $1.08 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Oracle’s current full-year earnings is $4.50 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Oracle’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.18 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $1.23 EPS.

    Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.48 billion. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 470.73% and a net margin of 17.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS.

    Several other brokerages have also weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Oracle from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Oracle from $112.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Oracle from $116.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.22.

    Get Our Latest Analysis on Oracle

    Oracle Price Performance

    Shares of Oracle stock opened at $113.66 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.54. Oracle has a twelve month low of $60.78 and a twelve month high of $127.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.89. The firm has a market cap of $308.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.00.

    Oracle Dividend Announcement

    The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 12th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

    Insider Activity at Oracle

    In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 354,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.39, for a total value of $43,783,337.43. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,543,033 shares in the company, valued at $313,784,841.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.10, for a total transaction of $215,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,039,652,654.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 354,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.39, for a total value of $43,783,337.43. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,543,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $313,784,841.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,949,837 shares of company stock worth $482,142,887. Insiders own 43.70% of the company’s stock.

    Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

    Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,922 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,820 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 3,149 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 5,963 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

    About Oracle

    (Get Free Report)

    Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.

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    Earnings History and Estimates for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

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  • Oracle falls after reporting slower growth in cloud sales | Bank Automation News

    Oracle falls after reporting slower growth in cloud sales | Bank Automation News

    Oracle Corp. reported cloud sales growth that slowed in the quarter, dimming enthusiasm about the software maker’s expansion efforts in competitive market. The shares declined about 5% in extended trading. Cloud revenue, a growth bet that is closely watched by investors, jumped 30% to $4.6 billion. Of that, $1.5 billion came from renting computing power […]

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  • ING Groep NV Decreases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

    ING Groep NV Decreases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

    ING Groep NV decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Free Report) by 92.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,978 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 241,318 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

    Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlas Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $315,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,991 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Oracle by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 102,427 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,372,000 after buying an additional 32,033 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $735,431,120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 43.43% of the company’s stock.

    Oracle Trading Up 2.2 %

    Shares of ORCL stock opened at $115.58 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $116.76 and its 200 day moving average is $101.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $60.78 and a 12-month high of $127.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.54.

    Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 12th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.74 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 17.02% and a negative return on equity of 470.73%. The company’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

    Oracle Announces Dividend

    The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 12th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

    Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

    Several brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $113.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $85.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $130.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.37.

    View Our Latest Report on Oracle

    Insider Transactions at Oracle

    In other news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 4,866 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total transaction of $609,758.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 207,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,990,421.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 4,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.31, for a total transaction of $609,758.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 207,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,990,421.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.78, for a total transaction of $154,149.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,280 shares in the company, valued at $2,368,298.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,175,443 shares of company stock worth $510,658,596 in the last 90 days. 43.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

    Oracle Profile

    (Free Report)

    Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.

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    Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ORCL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Free Report).

    Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

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    ABMN Staff

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  • Microsoft Stock Is a Buy, American Tower Can Climb, and More Analyst Reports

    Microsoft Stock Is a Buy, American Tower Can Climb, and More Analyst Reports

    These reports, excerpted and edited by Barron’s, were issued recently by investment and research firms. The reports are a sampling of analysts’ thinking; they should not be considered the views or recommendations of Barron’s. Some of the reports’ issuers have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the companies being analyzed.

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  • Oracle Extends Rally as Earnings Top Estimates

    Oracle Extends Rally as Earnings Top Estimates

    Oracle Stock Extends Rally After Earnings Top Estimates

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  • Worst Zelda Game Gets New Life As Fan-Made Game Boy Demake

    Worst Zelda Game Gets New Life As Fan-Made Game Boy Demake

    Back in the 1990s, Philips tried to break into the video game market with its doomed-to-fail, multimedia set-top box standard called CD-i. Many brands and models of CD-i players were released but all of them were flops and mostly forgotten in 2023. However, Philips did acquire the rights to develop three Zelda games for its unpopular machines. They were terrible. Now, a fan has taken what’s perhaps the worst of those games, a top-down RPG starring Zelda herself, and unofficially ported it to the Game Boy.

    Let’s Talk About Gotham Knights’ Predictable Ending

    You might be wondering how Philips was able to create Zelda games, and on a non-Nintendo platform. The answer to that involves Sony, weirdly enough. In 1989, Sony and Nintendo signed a deal to create a CD-based add-on for the SNES. However, Nintendo would later back out of the deal and instead work with Philips. Sony was bitter, and decided to develop its own game console, a little device you might have heard of called the PlayStation. Meanwhile, Nintendo saw the poor reaction to the Genesis’ Sega CD add-on and backed out of its planned SNES CD hardware entirely. It’s believed that, as some recompense for dissolving the deal, Nintendo ended up licensing some IP to Philips, allowing the company to make its own Zelda games. They weren’t great, and one of the three, Zelda’s Adventure, is seen by many fans as the worst of the bunch, and is often cited as the worst Zelda game ever released.

    Still, even if it’s a bad game with terrible controls and awful live-action FMV cinematics, it’s still a Zelda game, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it has its fans. One of them has spent a few years developing a full port of the CD-i flop for Nintendo’s Game Boy. And now it’s out, and it’s really cool!

    John Lay

    The story behind the new Game Boy Zelda

    Zelda’s Adventure for Game Boy was developed by John Lay, who describes himself as a programmer and graphic designer. According to Lay—a big fan of the 2D Zelda games—out of the three CD-i Zelda games games, Zelda’s Adventure “looked interesting.” And after stumbling across an early version of modern development tool GB Studio, Lay decided to start working on a demake during covid-19 lockdown as the idea of a portable version of the unbeloved game seemed like something he’d want to play. So he started work on a proof of concept that was just the first dungeon and the initial part of the overworld, which he estimates to comprise about 20 percent of the overall game.

    “After I finished I took a short break and during that time GB Studio released an update I was eager to try,” Lay told Kotaku. “So I…continued the game where I left off and developed approximately another 40 percent of the overworld and dungeons.”

    However, he ran into some GB Studio limitations, so he had to modify the engine with custom-created code to make the full demake feasible.

    “I then used this modified engine to develop a third prototype with the remaining 40 percent of the overworld and the final dungeons,” he said. “During this time GB Studio released a third update with a bunch of improvements, so I sat down and planned out how to combine all three prototypes into a single game.”

    Lay says from start to end this whole process took about 14 months, since starting work on the game in April 2020.

    According to the Itch page for Zelda’s Adventure, it was developed to aesthetically resemble 1992’s Link’s Awakening, but also includes some features from the Game Boy Color duo Oracle of Ages and Seasons. Lay calls his creation a complete port of the full game, and the music was composed by Beatscribe.

    How to play Zelda’s Adventure for Game Boy

    If you want to play this neat port on a Game Boy emulator, you can download the ROM from Lay’s Itch page. However, you can also play it in your browser without having to download a thing, or just watch a full playthrough of the fan game on Lay’s YouTube channel.

    John Lay

    Honestly, Lay’s new fan game is probably the best way to experience Zelda’s Adventure, that odd and barely remembered piece of Nintendo ephemera. I mean, unless the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom decides to include some deep-cut references to it, in which case we all might have to go back and reassess the CD-i disaster. Though I very much doubt that’s going to happen.

    As for Lay, he doesn’t have plans to demake the other two Zelda CD-i games, Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, on Nintendo’s portable or any other console. But he did enjoy working on the project, and wanted to shout out to both his composer Beatscribe and the “incredible developers” behind GB Studio.

    “Thanks to everyone who supported the project,” Lay said. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive feedback so far, it really makes it worthwhile. I hope you enjoy the game!”

    Zack Zwiezen

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