Oracle shares soared more than 36% on Wednesday, reaching a record close after the software behemoth projected a potentially explosive rise in its cloud revenues fueled by artificial intelligence. The rise also boosted co-founder Larry Ellison to surpass Elon Musk as the world’s richest person.
The database pioneer told investors it expects annual revenue from its cloud unit to surge to $144 billion by fiscal 2030—up dramatically from an estimated sub-$20 billion this year.
The optimism sent Oracle’s market capitalization surging by roughly $250 billion, notching its largest single-day percentage gain since December 1992.
Despite the euphoria, Oracle’s latest quarterly results missed Wall Street forecasts, with revenue for the fiscal first quarter coming in at $14.9 billion, just under the analyst consensus of $15 billion. Adjusted earnings per share registered at $1.47, falling short of the anticipated $1.48.
“We expect Oracle Cloud Infrastructure revenue to grow 77% to $18 billion this fiscal year — and then increase to $32 billion, $73 billion, $114 billion, and $144 billion over the subsequent four years,” said CEO Safra Catz in a statement.
“We signed four multibillion-dollar contracts with three different customers in Q1,” added the CEO. “We have signed significant cloud contracts with the who’s who of AI, including OpenAI, xAI, Meta, and many others.”
Investors were bolstered by the company’s aggressive revenue target and a sizable increase in Oracle’s remaining performance obligation (RPO), an indicator of future contracted revenue. Oracle attributed its bullish long-term guidance to intensifying enterprise demand for its AI-infused cloud products.
In the wake of Oracle’s rally, co-founder Larry Ellison surpassed Elon Musk to claim the title of world’s richest individual, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ellison’s net worth jumped by $101 billion in a single trading session to reach $393 billion. Meanwhile, Musk saw his fortune dip to $385 billion, eroded by continued weakness in Tesla’s share price as pressure grows from policy shifts rolling back incentives for electric vehicles.
