Oracle's $90B–$95B AI capex plan, funded by $40B in debt and equity, sent shares down 12% and spiked crypto volatility. The debt-funded bet ties tech credit risk to digital assets.
Oracle plans to spend $90 billion to $95 billion on AI infrastructure in fiscal 2027, partly funded by $40 billion in new debt and equity. The disclosure sent ORCL shares down as much as 12% in after-hours trading and spilled into digital assets within hours.
The company reported $55.7 billion in capital expenditure for fiscal 2026, above analyst estimates of roughly $50 billion. The FY2027 plan would push net project cash outlays to about $70 billion after customer prepayments. To bridge the gap, Oracle intends to raise roughly $40 billion through a mix of debt and equity.
Wall Street took the news poorly. A company borrowing tens of billions to fund capex and hoping AI revenue materializes fast enough to cover financing costs – that carries risk. Oracle shares fell 8% to 12% after hours following the June 10 fiscal Q4 report.
Oracle is building with partners: OpenAI, NVDA (Nvidia), and Meta. The three are among the heaviest consumers of AI computing. The partnerships do not guarantee that revenue will justify the debt.
The selloff leaked into crypto. Bitcoin’s price oscillated in a wide range within two hours of the earnings call, with volumes spiking, two traders said. “When a massive tech company takes on that much debt for an unproven revenue stream, it raises credit risk across the sector. Risk appetite shrinks, and crypto catches the same wave,” one crypto hedge fund manager said.
The reaction points to a growing tie: institutional capital flowing between tech equities and digital assets often moves together. A debt-funded AI bet that goes wrong would hit both markets. Traders said the immediate trigger was the sheer size of Oracle’s planned borrowing relative to its market cap.
AlphaScala's crypto market analysis tracks how tech capex cycles affect digital asset positioning. The connection runs through margin and liquidity channels, not just sentiment. For traders watching the interplay, the next marker is how Oracle funds its debt – whether the market absorbs the equity and bond offerings without further stress.
The committee plans to mark up the bills in the coming weeks. No date has been set for a floor vote.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.