Oracle's stock surged nearly 8% after the company raised its annual revenue growth forecast, now expecting at least $67 billion for fiscal 2026. This optimistic outlook is driven by robust demand for its cloud services, particularly from businesses integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations. The new forecast indicates a growth rate of approximately 16.7%, up from a previous estimate of 15%. The company's cloud services and license support unit reported a quarterly revenue of $11.70 billion, reflecting a 14% year-over-year increase, which also exceeded analysts' expectations.

CEO Safra Catz highlighted that the total cloud growth rate is projected to increase from 24% in fiscal year 2025 to over 40% in fiscal year 2026. This growth is attributed to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and the company's ability to embed generative AI capabilities into its cloud applications at no extra cost. Industry analysts note that Oracle's multi-cloud strategy and the increasing reliance on OCI by enterprise customers are significant factors driving this growth, positioning Oracle favorably in the competitive cloud services market.