Bitcoin and Nasdaq Futures Slide Following Oracle's Disappointing Earnings and Rising Debt Concerns
Bitcoin traded near $90,000, dropping 2.8% within 24 hours to around $90,271.07. Simultaneously, Nasdaq futures declined roughly 0.80% amid a cautious market environment.
Oracle's Q2 FY26 earnings missed consensus expectations, with revenue slightly below estimates. The company faced declines in legacy software sales and weak new license sales, contributing to a roughly 12% drop in Oracle shares during after-hours trading. Additionally, Oracle's long-term debt increased by 25% year over year to $99.6 billion, alongside a planned $15 billion rise in data-center capital expenditures.
Oracle's cloud infrastructure revenue came in at $4.1 billion, falling short of expectations. This shortfall is linked to increased AI infrastructure spending, which has contributed to the company's expanding debt profile. Morgan Stanley projects Oracle's net debt could reach approximately $290 billion by 2028.
The credit market reflects heightened concerns, with Oracle's 5-year credit default swap widening to about 117 basis points—the highest since 2022—indicating an annual default probability near 1.93% and an estimated 9% cumulative default risk over five years.
In the broader market context, investors appeared to view the Federal Reserve's recent rate cut as a "sell-the-news" event, exerting pressure on risk assets amid ongoing AI hype and delayed cash flows.
