New York, February 18, 2026, 19:05 EST — After-hours
- Oracle finished the day 1.4% higher at $156.17. After hours, shares nudged slightly further to $156.25.
- DTE Energy has lined up a 1.4-gigawatt power deal for Oracle’s data center in Michigan.
- Adage Capital increased its position in Oracle during the fourth quarter, according to a Reuters review of 13F filings.
Oracle Corp finished Wednesday up 1.4% at $156.17, edging a bit higher after hours to $156.25. Shares moved in a $151.42 to $157.30 range for the day.
Oracle’s AI expansion has dropped right into a heated investor debate. The question on the table: Can its cloud push actually meet demand, or is it just going to eat into cash?
Wednesday’s buying showed up across the board. Wall Street closed in the green, with Nvidia and other AI stocks giving the market a lift. Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, called it buyers returning after the recent dip. “Weakness in tech was bound to bring in the marginal buyer,” he said. Reuters
This week, Oracle’s in the spotlight for reasons that have little to do with Silicon Valley and everything to do with electricity. Utility DTE Energy disclosed it landed its first-ever hyperscale data center contracts last quarter, among them a big one: 1.4 gigawatts of capacity earmarked for Oracle’s new data center project in Saline Township, Michigan. State regulators have already signed off. According to DTE, the Oracle agreement should deliver “$300 million in annual benefits” to its current customers. CEO Joi Harris emphasized the contracts are set up so existing customers “not be burdened” by the cost. Reuters
Big money is rotating, and Oracle made an appearance in the latest flow numbers. According to a filing, Adage Capital lifted its Oracle stake nearly 19%, taking it up to 1.87 million shares—about $365 million in value—even as some other funds pared back in parts of the AI-driven tech sector. Nvidia is set to deliver earnings on Feb. 25, a date traders watch closely as a gauge for sentiment in the wider AI space.
Oracle has been pushing its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure as the go-to for big clients looking to run AI-heavy workloads. Earlier this month, the company said it’s raising capital to keep up with what it’s already contractually on the hook for—specifically demand from top OCI customers like AMD, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, TikTok, and xAI, plus several others.
Despite the gains on Wednesday, Oracle’s shares remain well under their 52-week high of $345.72, according to the company’s investor relations page. Market cap sits around $460 billion.
Funding is still front and center. Oracle’s plan calls for $45 billion to $50 billion in fresh capital in calendar 2026, using both equity and debt — specifically, at-the-market stock offerings and new bonds. “Oracle is not only saying they’re committed to investment-grade debt, but they are sending a clear message,” Guggenheim analysts wrote after the announcement. Reuters
Legal turbulence is swirling around the stock too. On Wednesday, The Gross Law Firm flagged a securities class action, with the complaint suggesting Oracle’s AI infrastructure push could mean hefty capital outlays well ahead of any meaningful revenue, putting pressure on debt, its credit profile, and free cash flow. Investors have until April 6, 2026 to try for lead-plaintiff status, according to the notice. It’s worth noting the allegations remain unproven.
On Thursday, eyes turn to software stocks to see if the rebound has legs, and there’s the question of fresh infrastructure headlines tied to data-center expansion. Oracle has its next quarterly update set for mid-March, which the company describes as the next stop for guidance on spending and cloud appetite.
