AI spending is front and center again for investors. Oracle plunged Thursday, with top hardware makers including Nvidia and Broadcom also dropping.

The tech giant is piling on debt to fund AI data centers.

Explore how the Nasdaq reacted to Oracle's financial update and its impact on artificial intelligence-related stocks.

Oracle’s stock fell more than 12% on Thursday on growing fears about the software giant’s massive AI spending — shaving more than $30 billion off co-founder Larry Ellison’s fortune. The Texas-based tech company’s stock tumbled to $194 a share from around $223 a share at the start of trading — wiping out $90 billion in market capitalization.

Oracle and other AI stocks tumbled on Thursday after the company reported surging expenditures related to its AI data center buildout, reinforcing concerns on Wall Street about debt-fueled spending on the fledgling technology.

"Last night Oracle Corp.'s weaker than expected results and higher AI spending epitomises the largest curveball risk in 2026," Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank Research wrote. "Namely that AI is in a bubble.

Oracle co-CEOs Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia weighed in on the cloud applications, infrastructure and multicloud businesses during the database vendor’s Q2 earnings call.

Oracle assures investors it's willing to look beyond Nvidia for AI chips.

Oracle’s credit default swaps have surged to near-record levels as soaring AI spending and a $100 bn debt load fuel fears of rising credit risk across the tech sector.