The backdrop for these cuts is that just like OpenAI, Oracle is posting large bets on AI datacenters and expects to be deep in the red until 2030, spending hundreds of billions along the way. Investors aren't taking kindly to the gargantuan scale of these investments nor to the circular nature of their ecosystem, and consequently, Oracle's stock price has dropped about 50% since its September 2025 peak. That said, the firm is still trading well above 2023 levels.
All things considered, it's not out of the question that Ellison might not just be optimizing its workforce, but rather applying a chainsaw to the firm's spending so it can weather the coming spending storm. It's slightly puzzling that the hiring freeze would extend to cloud service job listings, since those are supposed to enable Oracle to execute its plan.
Some investors even went as far as suing the company for misrepresenting its spending and borrowing predictions. Oracle plans to raise around $50 billion through debt and equity sales, so it's a fair guess that Ellison's bean counters are working hard to balance the books.
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Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/oracle-reportedly-set-to-axe-thousands-of-jobs-and-freeze-hiring-for-cloud-division-ai-datacenter-bets-ignite-financial-perfect-storm#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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