New York, February 17, 2026, 11:28 ET — Regular session
- Oracle shares down 2.6% in late morning trading, underperforming a flat broader market
- Oracle flags new Qatar “sovereign” cloud and AI services tie-up with Ooredoo
- Traders eye fresh lawsuit headlines and Friday’s key U.S. inflation reading
Oracle shares fell 2.6% to $156 in late morning trading on Tuesday, after closing at $160.14 in the prior session. The stock has traded between $153.20 and $159.18 so far, with about 6.5 million shares changing hands.
The pullback tracked a broader wobble in U.S. technology stocks, as investors weighed worries that fast-moving AI tools could pressure parts of the software sector. Losses were heaviest across several big-cap tech names. (Reuters)
For Oracle, the timing matters because the company is spending heavily on cloud capacity for AI workloads and has been lining up funding to support that buildout. Traders have been sensitive to any sign of dilution or tighter cash flow as the investment cycle ramps. (Reuters)
Oracle’s slide outpaced some peers: Microsoft was down about 0.4% while SAP’s U.S.-listed shares fell about 1.6%. The S&P 500 proxy ETF SPY was little changed, while the Nasdaq-100 tracker QQQ dipped.
On the corporate front, Oracle said on Monday that Qatar telecoms group Ooredoo had picked Oracle Alloy to offer “sovereign” AI and cloud services from local data centers. Ooredoo Qatar CEO Sheikh Ali bin Jabor bin Mohammad Al Thani said the platform would be “hosted entirely within the country,” while Oracle executive Richard Smith called sovereign cloud access “essential” for long-term resilience. (Oracle)
Separately, plaintiffs’ law firm Bleichmar Fonti & Auld said a securities class action lawsuit had been filed against Oracle and some executives in U.S. federal court in Delaware, and said investors have until April 6 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. The firm linked the claims to a sharp stock drop in December after Oracle’s quarterly update. (GlobeNewswire)
Oracle’s last earnings season put the spending debate in focus. The company’s outlook missed Wall Street targets and it flagged higher capital spending, underscoring how quickly AI-related infrastructure costs can rise. (Reuters)
The other pressure point is rates. Higher yields can make long-dated growth bets look expensive, and Oracle’s cloud buildout is a multi-year story that can get repriced quickly when macro assumptions shift.
Next up, investors will watch Friday’s U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — for cues on the path of rate cuts. Oracle’s investor relations site lists no upcoming events yet, keeping attention on when the company sets its next earnings date. (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
The risk is that cloud wins do not land fast enough to offset capital spending, while the legal overhang and a jumpy tech tape keep buyers cautious. For now, traders want a clear catalyst — a firm earnings date, fresh guidance, or a steadier market tone — before leaning back into ORCL.
