Analysis:Oracle Corp goes for high-stakes ratings gamble in AI strategy

LONDON, Aug 4 : Cloud computing giant Oracle Corp is on the cusp of a junk-grade credit rating and its shares have tanked as the artificial intelligence hyperscaler becomes the fall guy of investors' concerns over the sector's debt-fuelled spending binge. The U.S. multinational is an outlier among top software firms racing to buy chips and build computing power to leapfrog the AI boom, forced by its limited cash reserves to borrow heavily and undertake massive long-term leases. The extent of the splurge came to light in June, when Oracle's results for the fiscal year ending in May 2026 showed its free cash flows were negative, the bulk of its revenue was spent on capital expenditure and it had signed roughly $260 billion of data centre leases, some starting next year.The disclosures rattle