New York, Feb 20, 2026, 18:46 EST — After-hours
- Oracle shares fell about 5% on Friday, underperforming a broader U.S. market that finished higher.
- OpenAI funding and spending headlines kept focus on the cost of building out AI infrastructure.
- Investors’ next checkpoint is Nvidia’s Feb. 25 results and any fresh detail on Oracle’s 2026 funding plan.
Oracle Corp shares (ORCL) fell 5.4% in late after-hours trading on Friday to $148.08, after sliding in the regular session. The stock traded between $147.42 and $157.85 on the day.
The drop came even as U.S. stocks ended higher after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, lifting heavyweight tech names including Alphabet and Amazon. “Today is a removal of some uncertainty, and we’re on to the next phase,” said Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments. (Reuters)
For Oracle, the bigger live wire is still the AI spending cycle. OpenAI is targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030 as it lays groundwork for an IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters; the source said OpenAI’s 2025 revenue totaled $13 billion while it spent $8 billion. (Reuters)
A separate report said Nvidia is close to finalizing a $30 billion investment in OpenAI as part of a fundraising round in which OpenAI is seeking more than $100 billion, valuing the ChatGPT maker at about $830 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. (Reuters)
Oracle, meantime, kept pushing product updates. The company’s data integration group said on Thursday it rolled out the general availability of Oracle GoldenGate for Distributed Applications and Analytics 26ai, adding features it said include embedded AI services and new support for tools spanning cloud environments. (Oracle Blogs)
Oracle also leaned into healthcare. Oracle Health said on Thursday it launched a device validation program aimed at smoothing medical device integration, with Oracle Health executive vice president and general manager Seema Verma saying, “we’re not waiting for the future of healthcare connectivity, we’re setting the standard.” (Oracle)
Still, investors have been trading Oracle more like an AI infrastructure story than a software upgrade cycle. Earlier this month, Oracle said it expects to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 to build additional cloud capacity, with about half via equity-linked and common equity issuances, including an at-the-market program of up to $20 billion — a mechanism that lets a company sell shares gradually at prevailing prices. (Reuters)
That cash plan matters because the market is looking for proof that big checks for AI data centers are turning into durable revenue. In a note on the week ahead for markets, Reuters quoted Empower’s Marta Norton saying it’s “hard for Nvidia to surprise when everyone expects it to surprise,” while BakerAvenue Wealth Management’s King Lip said, “Next week is going to be pretty important for software.” (Reuters)
But the path is messy. If AI demand cools or customers slow buildouts, Oracle could be left with higher funding costs and thinner room to maneuver, particularly if investors push back on dilution from equity sales.
The next near-term catalyst is Nvidia’s fourth-quarter results and conference call on Wednesday, Feb. 25, a report investors have treated as a read-through on AI infrastructure demand across the ecosystem. (Nvidia)
