Today, investors are waking up to red on their screens as many tech and AI stocks are dropping in premarket trading.
But why are shares in these companies falling? Much of it has to do with the cloud infrastructure company Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) and its latest quarterly earnings results. Here’s what you need to know.
Oracle’s Q2 2026 results send ORCL plunging
Yesterday, Oracle reported financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2026. To say investors were disappointed in the results is an understatement, given how poorly ORCL shares are performing in premarket trading this morning.
As of the time of this writing, ORCL shares are down over 12% as investors unpack its results:
- Non-GAAP Earnings per Share: $2.26
- Total Revenue: $16.1 billion
On the surface, the numbers look good. Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) were up 54% and total revenue was up 14%.
However, as noted by CNBC, while Oracle’s non-GAAP EPS beat LSEG analyst expectations of $1.64, analysts were expecting higher total revenue figures: $16.21 billion versus the $16.1 billion Oracle delivered.
That discrepancy caused the stock to tumble, even after the company announced new agreements with major AI investors, Nvidia and Meta.
As noted by Investopedia, although these agreements have helped boost Oracle’s remaining performance obligations to $523 billion, they have also raised investor concerns about circular spending in the AI industry.
Circular spending refers to when companies invest in each other, effectively passing money back and forth.
Circular spending is also one of the biggest reasons why many fear we could be in an AI bubble waiting to pop.
Chip stocks fall after Oracle’s earnings results
These AI bubble fears seem to have been renewed today after Oracle’s financial results. As of the time of this writing, major chip companies operating in the AI space are seeing stock price declines, including:
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD): down 1.2%
- Arm Holdings plc (Nasdaq: ARM): down 1.2%
- Broadcom Inc. (Nasdaq: AVGO): down 1.3%
- Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC): down 1%
- Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU): down 1.1%
- NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA): down 1.3%
- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM): down 0.9%
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM): down 1.4%
Big Tech shares are also falling after Nvidia’s earnings
Oracle’s disappointing earnings and renewed fears of an AI bubble also seem to be impacting the stock prices of many of tech’s most prominent players this morning, albeit to a lesser extent:
- Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG): down 0.5%
- Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN): down 0.7%
- Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL): up 0.1%
- Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META): down 0.9%
- Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT): down 0.6%
- Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA): down 1.3%
As for Oracle itself, the company’s stock price is currently down over 12% to $196.25 per share.
This decline follows a strong year for Oracle. As of yesterday’s close, the stock is up 33% so far in 2025, outperforming the Nasdaq Composite’s rise of 22.68%. Over the past 12 months, ORCL shares have climbed 25%.