AI-led tech slide extends into third day as Oracle, Broadcom fall

by · CNBC

Key Points

  • Oracle shares slid on Friday as investors appear to tap out of technology.
  • The drop comes after the company's quarterly revenue missed analyst expectations.
  • Other AI-related names like Micron and CoreWeave also extended losses.

In this article

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U.S. artificial intelligence names were mostly in negative territory on Friday, extending losses into their third day.

Oracle fell 4.5% on Friday, while Nvidia dropped more than 3%. Micron slid almost 7%, and CoreWeave was down more at the market close.

Broadcom, which reported a strong quarter on Thursday, tumbled 11%. The Nasdaq was lower by almost 2%.

It's been a tough week for the AI trade, with database software maker Oracle plummeting 11% on Thursday after revenue earnings missed analyst expectations late Wednesday.

Oracle dragged other AI-related names down with it despite a record-breaking rally elsewhere on Wall Street, suggesting investors are rotating out of tech into other parts of the market.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.26% on Thursday, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 hitting fresh records at the end of the session.

Despite booming demand for Oracle's artificial intelligence infrastructure, it posted mixed results this week. Revenue came in at $16.06 billion, compared with $16.21 billion expected by analysts, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It followed widespread speculation around the long-term health of the company, with investors cautious about its reliance on debt to execute its AI infrastructure build-out. The broader industry's circular dealmaking has also raised eyebrows.

"We think recent investor scrutiny on artificial intelligence's potential and circular GPU deals can be overly punitive to key AI suppliers like Oracle," said Morningstar Equity Analyst Luke Yang. "Oracle remains a respectable cloud provider that enjoys strong switching costs across its database, application, and infrastructure lineup."

That said, the firm reduced its fair value estimate for wide-moat Oracle to $286 per share, down from $340. Morningstar's moat rating refers to its assessment of a company's durable competitive advantage.

"We lowered our long-term earnings outlook as delivering Oracle's planned capacity on time now proved to be a harder task. However, we continue to view shares as undervalued," Yang added.