Oracle Returns to the Bond Market for $10B Despite Its 2026 Pledge, With a $10B Stock Sale Too
Initial pricing on the longest bond is about 360 bp over Treasuries, as investors demand higher premiums for AI data center borrowing.
Oracle (ORCL) began marketing a $10 billion U.S. investment-grade bond offering on Monday, Nov. 2, to help finance its AI infrastructure expansion, according to a regulatory filing and published reports. The deal comes after the company said in February that a $25 billion bond sale would be its only debt issuance of 2026. Oracle also launched a separate $10 billion stock offering the same day, and the shares fell more than 4% in Monday trading, according to published reports.
The bond terms
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Size | $10 billion of investment-grade bonds |
| Tranches | Six: one floating-rate and five fixed-rate, maturing between 2029 and 2046 |
| Longest bond | Initial pricing about 360 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, according to the report |
| Use of proceeds | General corporate purposes, which can include capital spending and debt repayment |
| Lead bank | BofA Securities, with Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank |
The preliminary filing did not set interest rates or the size of each tranche, and pricing will likely tighten or widen as orders arrive. The bond and stock sales are separate, and either can proceed without the other.
A change from the February message
In February, Oracle described a roughly $25 billion bond sale as “a single, one-time issuance” for 2026 and said it did not expect more debt this year, alongside up to about $20 billion of equity funding. At its Oct. 28 investor day, it said it would raise up to $20 billion of new capital through fiscal 2030, split evenly between debt and equity, excluding refinancing of existing debt. Its chief financial officer, Hilary Maxson, called that the final amount needed to fund the remainder of this cycle, according to published reports.
By our calculation, this offering would bring 2026 bond issuance to about $35 billion if completed, and it would use the full $10 billion debt allocation of the new fiscal 2030 plan in one deal.
The stock offering
The $10 billion share sale equals about 76.5 million shares at Friday's close of $130.67, by our calculation. Oracle said proceeds would go to general corporate purposes. The shares fell more than 4% on Monday, according to published reports.
Why investors want more yield
| Measure | Level |
|---|---|
| Senior unsecured borrowings (Aug. 31) | About $125.3 billion |
| Cash (Aug. 31) | About $36.4 billion |
| Data center spending, year to May 2026 | $55.7 billion |
| Five-year credit default swaps | About 296 bp, up roughly 270% over a year, according to the report |
| Ratings | S&P BBB-, one notch above high yield; Fitch assigned the new bonds BBB, stable outlook |
The report says investors are asking for higher borrowing premiums and credit protection as technology companies take on debt for AI data centers and chips. Oracle has said free cash flow should turn positive in the second half of fiscal 2028, which leaves several years in which spending is funded externally.
What to watch
- Final pricing. How far the longest bond tightens from the initial 360 bp talk, and the order book across the six tranches.
- Stock offering terms. The price and structure of the $10 billion share sale and how the shares trade against it.
- Ratings. Whether other agencies react, with S&P one notch above high yield.
- Guidance credibility. Whether Oracle keeps to its fiscal 2030 limit. Company filings are on its investor relations site and the SEC.
- Sector read-through. See our coverage of Meta's bond plans, the Anthropic S-1 amendment and IREN.
Sources: Oracle's investor relations site and SEC filings. Pricing talk, tranche details, ratings and the stock move come from published reports and are subject to change. Items labeled by our calculation are our own arithmetic. This article is informational only and is not investment advice.
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