Oracle has a problem that most companies would love to have, and simultaneously dread. The enterprise tech giant is sitting on $638 billion in AI backlog orders, a 363% year-over-year increase that signals enormous demand for its cloud infrastructure. The catch: actually building all of it requires the kind of spending that makes credit rating agencies nervous.
S&P Global Ratings downgraded Oracle’s long-term issuer credit rating to BBB- from BBB on July 9, 2026. That’s one notch above junk territory, which is not exactly where you want to be when you’re trying to raise $40 to $50 billion in fresh capital.
The math behind Oracle’s high-wire act
Oracle has projected capital expenditures of $90 to $95 billion for fiscal year 2027, which ends in May 2027. To fund this buildout, Oracle plans to raise between $40 and $50 billion through a combination of debt and equity financing by calendar year 2026. The company already raised $18 billion from bond issuances in 2025, with additional equity-linked issuances layered on top.
Oracle’s long-term debt has ballooned to somewhere between $108 and $130 billion, a figure that has widened credit default swap spreads and caught the attention of every fixed-income analyst with a pulse.
