Business
Oracle shares slide as earnings fail to ease AI bubble fears
Shares of cloud computing giant Oracle plunged more than 10% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company’s revenues fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The company reported revenue of $16.06bn (£11.99bn) for the three months that ended in November, compared with the $16.21bn projected by analysts.
Revenue growth was up 14%, with a 68% surge in sales at its AI business, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the company said.
OCI services major AI technology developers whose demand for Oracle’s AI infrastructure helped the company’s shares reach new highs this fall but Wednesday’s results failed to quell fears about a potential AI bubble.
In September, Oracle agreed a highly sought-after contract with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which agreed to purchase $300bn in computing power from Oracle over five years.
Oracle chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison briefly became the world’s richest man in after the announcement.
But the firm’s shares have lost 40% of their value since peaking three months ago. Still, they are up by more than a third since the start of the year.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Ellison struck a cautious tone.
“There are going to be a lot of changes in AI technology over the next few years and we must remain agile in response to those changes,” he wrote.
Mr Ellison also appeared to snub Nvidia, the designer of highly-sophisticated AI chips, saying Oracle would buy chips from any maker in order to serve clients.
“We will continue to buy the latest GPUs from Nvidia, but we need to be prepared and able to deploy whatever chips our customers want to buy,” Mr Ellison declared in a policy he called “chip neutrality”.
Oracle is involved in multiple AI infrastructure arrangements that have raised the prospect that major players in the sector are participating in ‘circular financing’ deals whereby companies finance purchases of their own products and services.
“Oracle’s earnings arrive as investors weigh whether its massive OpenAI partnership might mean overexposure with a customer currently in the spotlight over profitability concerns,” said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne following the release of the company’s quarterly report.
Mr Bourne said Oracle faced mounting scrutiny over the increased debt the company has amassed to fund building data centres.
But others said Wall Street’s negative reaction was unfounded.
“This was nothing but a great quarter for Oracle,” said Cory Johnson, Chief Market Strategist at Epistrophy Capital Research. “Revenue growth of 14% is accelerating.”
Including the OpenAI deal from September, Mr Johnson noted, Oracle has signed $385bn in contracts over six months, and “those new clients are the likes of Meta and Nvidia.”
“But AI sentiment is so bad right now, that’s seen as a bad thing for Oracle,” he added.
Oracle raised a record $18bn in a massive bond sale in September, one of the largest debt issuances ever in the tech sector.
“Although Oracle’s shares are buoyed by its September surge, this revenue miss will likely exacerbate concerns among already cautious investors about its OpenAI deal and its aggressive AI spending,” Mr Bourne said.
The Ellison family, supporters of US President Donald Trump, also recently purchased Paramount and have spearheaded a bid to take over another major Hollywood studio, Warner Brothers Discovery.
New Delhi: Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament on Wednesday that the daily average number of train services on the Indian Railways network has gone up to 11,740 (November 2025) from 11,283 services operating prior to Covid-19.
The Indian Railways network has increased the daily average number of Mail and Express services to 2,238 (November 2025) as against 1,768 services operating prior to Covid-19.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister further stated that Indian Railways undertook rationalisation of the time-table, including rationalisation of train services and stoppages, in a scientific manner with the assistance of IIT-Bombay. The exercise has been undertaken to provide for better passenger safety by creating maintenance corridor blocks, speeding up train services and improving punctuality.
Since November 2021, Express train services have been operated as per a rationalised timetable and regular numbers.
The minister also said that at present, 164 Vande Bharat train services having Chair Cars are operational on the Indian Railways network, besides the introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat Express services and their variants.
He further stated that to cater to long and medium distance overnight travel, the Sleeper variant of the Vande Bharat train has been indigenously designed. Two such rakes have been manufactured and are under trial.
Broad Technological advancements and safety features provided in Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains include the KAVACH safety system, higher acceleration with operating speed of 160 KMPH, crashworthy and jerk-free semi-permanent couplers and anti-climbers, fire barrier doors at the end of each coach and improved fire safety aerosol-based fire detection and suppression system in electrical cabinets and lavatories, the minister said.
Besides, these trains have a regenerative braking system for energy efficiency, air conditioning units provided with indigenously developed UV-C lamp-based disinfection systems, centrally controlled automatic plug doors and fully sealed wider gangways.
They are also equipped with an emergency talk-back unit for communication between the passenger and train manager or loco pilot in case of emergency. The facilities include a centralised Coach Monitoring System for better condition monitoring of passenger amenities such as air conditioning, saloon lighting, as well, Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw added.
BENGALURU: TCS signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Salesforce consulting firm Coastal Cloud in an all-cash deal valued at $700 million. Founded in 2012, Coastal Cloud brings AI-led advisory and business consulting capabilities to help clients reimagine sales, service, marketing, revenue, and commerce. With the acquisitions of ListEngage and now Coastal Cloud, TCS said it’s placed among the top five Salesforce consulting firms globally. In Oct, TCS strengthened its Salesforce practice through the acquisition of ListEngage, with capabilities for its Agentforce, marketing cloud, and commerce cloud expertise. Coastal Cloud was nominated to the Salesforce Partner Advisory Board, allowing it to help shape product innovations and develop services to support new launches.The firm is led by Eric Berridge, a Salesforce veteran who built and scaled category-leading Salesforce services ventures. Salesforce Ventures has been a strategic investor in the company. The acquisition adds over 400 seasoned professionals with more than 3,000 multi-cloud certifications, strengthening TCS’ Salesforce advisory and consulting capabilities across verticals. Coastal Cloud’s client portfolio spans multiple industries, and the deal gives TCS greater access to the mid-market segment, along with cross-selling synergies across both firms’ customer bases.TCS COO Aarthi Subramanian said, “This acquisition marks a pivotal milestone in advancing our global Salesforce capabilities and accelerating our AI-led transformation agenda. It is another significant step towards realising TCS’s vision of becoming the world’s largest AI-led technology services company.” The transaction, however, is subject to approvals from regulatory bodies.
Henrique Braun to become the next CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
Courtesy: The Coca-Cola Company
Coca-Cola Chief Operating Officer Henrique Braun will succeed James Quincey as CEO next year, the company said Wednesday, as Coke and its rivals navigate tepid consumer demand for soft drinks.
The change will take effect on March 31, and Braun will be nominated to the company’s board of directors, Coca-Cola said. Quincey will stay on with the company as executive chairman of its board.
Quincey, 60, has held the top job at the beverage giant since 2017. During that time, he oversaw the refranchising of Coke’s bottling system, the company’s strategy through the Covid pandemic and its focus on beverages perceived as healthier.
Braun, 57, has held various roles at Coke since joining the company in 1996, the same year that Quincey joined. Braun became COO at the beginning of the year.
In a release, Coca-Cola said Braun will focus on identifying new growth opportunities around the world, better filling consumer needs and improving the company’s technology.
James Quincey, Coca-Cola CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
The leadership change comes as the beverage company tries to reverse slower demand for its sodas, which still account for a significant amount of its global sales. In Coke’s third-quarter, global unit case volume — which strips out pricing and foreign currency changes — rose 1% after falling in the previous three-month period.
Quincey has said lower-income consumers have bought fewer of its drinks, and the company has rolled out cheaper and smaller versions of its products to try to reverse the trend. However, pricier brands like Smartwater and Fairlife have performed better than its soda segment in recent quarters, suggesting that consumers are willing to pay more for some brands.
Coca-Cola has also largely outperformed rival Pepsico during Quincey’s tenure, in part due to its stronger out-of-home business in venues like restaurants and movie theaters.
Coke is also winning the soda wars. Its namesake soda has held onto its spot as the best-selling soda in the U.S., and Sprite surpassed Pepsi to become the No. 3 soda in the nation.
Coke’s stock has outperformed Pepsi’s in recent years.
Coke shares were largely unchanged in extended trading Wednesday. The company’s stock has climbed nearly 13% this year, while Pepsi shares have fallen more than 1%.
Coke’s market cap of more than $300 billion outstrips that of Pepsi, which has a market value of roughly $200 billion.
Lahore woman interjects during Bilawal’s presser from rooftop
Bangladesh RMG workers part of trade unions get 10% higher wages: BIDS
Impressive win for Man City provides more doubts on Alonso’s future at Madrid
-
Business1 week agoCredit Card Spends Ease In October As Point‑Of‑Sale Transactions Grow 22%
-
Business1 week agoIndiGo Receives Rs 117.52 Crore Penalty Over Input Tax Credit Denial
-
Fashion1 week agoWorld goods trade growth set to moderate as barometer index dips: WTO
-
Politics4 days ago17 found dead in migrant vessel off Crete: coastguard
-
Politics3 days agoThailand launches air strikes against Cambodian military: army
-
Fashion3 days agoGermany’s LuxExperience appoints Francis Belin as new CEO of Mytheresa
-
Fashion1 week agoOutlook on Philippines’ long-term rating positive: S&P Global Ratings
-
Politics3 days agoZelenskiy says Ukraine’s peace talks with US constructive but not easy