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Oracle Shares Hit Record High as AI Cloud Demand Boosts Revenue Outlook

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Oracle shares surged 14% on Thursday, crossing the $200 mark for the first time, after the company raised its annual revenue forecast fueled by strong demand for its AI-related cloud services.

Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and warnings from analysts about potential impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Big Tech’s AI investments, confidence in the software sector remains robust.

Oracle recently announced a joint venture called Stargate aimed at providing large-scale computing power to OpenAI, positioning itself as a key player in AI infrastructure.

Michael Ashley Schulman, partner at Running Point Capital Advisors, described Oracle’s transformation as moving from a “stodgy” image to a “cloud-native mage” competing in a fiercely contested market.

For fiscal 2026, Oracle expects total revenue to reach at least $67 billion, according to CEO Safra Catz during a post-earnings call.

The company reported cloud services quarterly revenue growth of 14% to $11.7 billion, with overall revenue of $15.9 billion surpassing estimates of $15.59 billion. Following these results, at least nine brokerages have raised their price targets.

Oracle’s forward price-to-earnings ratio stands at 25.86, lower than rivals Microsoft’s 31.34 and Amazon’s 31.80. Year-to-date, Microsoft’s stock has risen 12.16%, while Amazon’s has fallen 2.8%.

Analysts at Piper Sandler noted that Oracle is experiencing a wave of enterprise popularity unseen since the internet boom of the late 1990s.

At the close, Oracle shares were trading at $201.38.

Nvidia to Build Germany’s First Industrial AI Cloud, Boosting Europe’s AI Infrastructure

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Nvidia announced plans to develop its first artificial intelligence cloud platform for industrial applications in Germany, CEO Jensen Huang said Wednesday at the VivaTech conference in Paris. The AI cloud will combine artificial intelligence with robotics to support automotive giants like BMW and Mercedes-Benz in tasks ranging from product design simulation to logistics management.

Huang also detailed a broader Europe-focused strategy including expanding Nvidia technology centers across seven countries, launching a compute marketplace for European companies, and advancing AI models in multiple languages. The company is supporting drug discovery efforts with partners like Novo Nordisk.

“In just two years, we will increase the amount of AI computing capacity in Europe by a factor of 10,” Huang declared during his nearly two-hour presentation.

Europe is embracing the concept of “AI factories,” large-scale infrastructures dedicated to AI model development, training, and deployment. Huang announced plans for 20 such AI factories across the continent.

Huang is scheduled to visit Berlin Friday and is expected to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, signaling political support for the initiative.

Though specifics about the plant’s location, cost, and construction timeline were not disclosed, the move could be a win for Germany’s ruling coalition following recent setbacks with Intel and Wolfspeed suspending factory plans.

While Europe trails the U.S. and China in AI development, the European Commission revealed a $20 billion investment plan to build four AI factories earlier this year.

Additionally, Nvidia is partnering with European AI startup Mistral to power AI computing using 18,000 latest Nvidia chips for European enterprises.

“Sovereign AI is an imperative—no company, industry or nation can outsource its intelligence,” Huang said.

He emphasized the importance of AI adoption to avoid falling behind globally and expressed optimism about quantum computing’s near-term impact, noting it could solve complex problems beyond even advanced AI systems.

This announcement reinforces Nvidia’s role as a global AI infrastructure leader and marks a significant step in strengthening Europe’s AI ecosystem.

Baidu Says Homegrown Tech Shields AI Ambitions from U.S. Chip Curbs

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Chinese tech giant Baidu asserted on Wednesday that its artificial intelligence (AI) development remains largely insulated from recent U.S. semiconductor export restrictions, thanks to an expanding domestic supply of chips and software. The company also reported stronger-than-expected Q1 financial results, fueled by growth in its AI cloud segment.

“Domestically developed chips and increasingly efficient homegrown software will form a strong foundation for long-term innovation in China’s AI ecosystem,” said Shen Dou, Baidu’s Vice President, during a conference call with analysts.

The statement follows the latest U.S. curbs on advanced chips — including Nvidia’s H20, a product tailored for the Chinese market — which officially took effect last month. Baidu’s confidence mirrors that of rival Tencent, which recently cited existing chip stockpiles as a buffer against Washington’s tightening export controls.

Baidu’s first-quarter revenue rose 3% year-over-year to 32.45 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), surpassing analysts’ estimates of 30.9 billion yuan, according to LSEG. The company’s non-online marketing revenue, primarily driven by its AI cloud business, jumped 40% to 9.4 billion yuan, highlighting Baidu’s accelerating pivot away from its legacy ad-based search engine model.

While revenue from its online marketing segment fell 6% to 17.31 billion yuan — slightly below forecasts — Baidu posted a robust profit of 21.59 yuan per American Depositary Share, up from 14.91 yuan a year earlier.

Baidu has made aggressive moves in the generative AI space since becoming one of the first Chinese firms to launch a ChatGPT-style chatbot in early 2023. However, its flagship Ernie model now faces stiff competition from fast-rising domestic players like DeepSeek.

In response, Baidu scrapped subscription fees for premium AI chatbot services in April and launched enhanced models including Ernie X1 and Ernie 4.5, later upgrading both to “Turbo” versions. The company’s AI ambitions are powered by its self-developed P800 Kunlun chips, with a 30,000-chip cluster said to be capable of training DeepSeek-scale models.

Despite the upbeat earnings and AI momentum, Baidu’s U.S.-listed shares were slightly down 0.3% in Wednesday morning trading.