Oracle Soars To Record Highs With Massive Cloud Contracts Tied To OpenAI

Oracle Corp. ORCL extended its gains Monday, building on last week’s historic rally that underscored OpenAI’s influence across technology markets.The software giant recorded its largest stock jump since 1992 after reporting earnings fueled by surging cloud commitments.Oracle shares are up 82% year-to-date and have added 27% in just the past five sessions. By comparison, the S&P 100 Index, which includes Oracle, has risen 14% this year, gaining more than 2% in the past week.Also Read: Oracle’s Exceptional Backlog Confirms Its Role As Key AI Enabler: AnalystOracle’s momentum is tied closely to OpenAI. The company signed multibillion-dollar cloud contracts with the artificial intelligence startup, which pushed Oracle’s performance obligations to $455 billion in the latest quarter, a 359% increase from a year earlier.Bloomberg reported that OpenAI has committed to spending $300 billion on computing power over five years beginning in 2027, part of a $30 billion Oracle cloud deal first disclosed in June.The ripple effects of OpenAI’s spending have spread across the tech sector. Broadcom Inc. AVGO climbed 10% after winning a $10 billion order to build custom processors for the AI firm.Microsoft Corp. MSFT, which has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and serves as a key cloud partner, and Nvidia Corp. NVDA, whose GPUs underpin OpenAI’s AI workloads, also benefited.Together with Oracle, these companies have added $4.5 trillion in market capitalization since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, according to CNBC, fueling record highs in both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.Oracle credited OpenAI as a key catalyst, signing multibillion-dollar contracts that lifted its performance obligations 359% year-over-year to $455 billion. Bloomberg confirmed that OpenAI agreed to spend $300 billion on computing power over five years starting in 2027, part of a $30 billion Oracle cloud deal first disclosed in June.At its peak last week, Oracle briefly touched a $930 billion market valuation before easing to about $830 billion, edging closer to the trillion-dollar milestone.Despite the surge, some analysts caution against overestimating Oracle’s position in the cloud race. Byron Deeter of Bessemer Venture Partners described the company as a “B-level hyperscaler,” still lagging behind Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Microsoft, and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL Google in infrastructure scale and without a meaningful presence in AI software or chips.ORCL Price Action: Oracle stock is trading higher by 3.66% to $303.11 at last check Monday. Why Apple’s New iPhone Air Isn’t Hitting Chinese Shelves Just Yet Photo via Shutterstock