Oracle Says Its AI Buildout Will Pay for Itself. Can It? - Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)

Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) posted record revenue Thursday, but the more revealing numbers came from how the company is paying for its AI buildout.

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CFO Hilary Maxson told analysts that remaining performance obligations, or RPO, increased $26 billion from Q4. She was quick to explain the mechanics behind that growth: The vast majority of the new contracts were via prepay or bring-your-own hardware, so will not require incremental capital from Oracle.

She added that the new RPO will not impact capex or revenues until fiscal 2028 or beyond.

Co-CEO Clay Magouyrk reinforced the point on the infrastructure side, noting: “We closed more than $30 billion of additional AI contracts in Q1 without requiring additional capital from Oracle.”