Oracle은 멀티 기가와트급 AI 데이터센터 구축을 위해 원자력 발전을 추진하고 있으며, 공격적 자본지출과 전력망 제약 사이의 긴장을 드러낸다.
Oracle's shares rose 2.9% to EUR 126.50 in European trading, buoyed by a softer-than-expected U.S. jobs report that eased rate anxiety and lifted blue chips on Wall Street. Yet beneath this modest gain lies a far more consequential development: the software giant is staking its data-center ambitions directly on a nuclear reactor, and the financial machinery underpinning that bet is drawing scrutiny from credit analysts and lenders.
The agreement with utility We Energies commits Oracle to purchase electricity from the Point Beach nuclear plant and to absorb the full energy costs of its planned Project Lighthouse campus in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The arrangement is projected to save roughly USD 300 million in fuel costs for more than a million Wisconsin ratepayers. The deal still requires approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and market watchers are already flagging potential delays in grid interconnection. Oracle originally targeted power delivery from 2027, while independent estimates suggest meaningful supply for the USD 11 billion project may not arrive until mid-2028.
The nuclear pact illustrates the sheer scale of obligations Oracle is accumulating. Capital expenditure reached USD 28.499 billion in the most recent quarter, with guidance toward USD 90 billion to USD 95 billion for the full fiscal year. Moody's has assigned Oracle a "Baa2" rating with a negative outlook—just two notches above junk status—citing rapidly growing, debt-like lease commitments for data centers across the industry.
That tension between spending and financing extends beyond Wisconsin. At Project Jupiter in New Mexico, delays to campus power supply are looming, and according to media reports, a formal provision could allow Oracle to defer rental payments should construction stall. Reuters Breakingviews noted that the move has rattled creditors across the AI sector, exposing the funding risks embedded in the broader buildout. The episode lays bare a structural vulnerability: enormous energy demand for modern computing campuses is colliding with slow grid connections and power shortages, and contractual commitments can quickly run into physical infrastructure limits.
On the demand side, the Financial Times and Reuters report that Chinese conglomerate Tencent is planning a five-year lease for roughly 100,000 AI chips in Oracle data centers in Southeast Asia, with a volume estimated at around USD 7 billion. Neither company has confirmed the contract. If realized, it underscores the strategic bind facing cloud providers: recouping colossal investments requires landing global anchor tenants, even as geopolitical screening increasingly complicates cross-border access to advanced chip capacity.
Wall Street remains divided on the balance. Citizens reaffirmed its "Market Outperform" rating with a USD 285 price target, while Freedom Broker trimmed its target to USD 205 on margin concerns but kept its "Buy" rating. Oracle board member Stephen Rusckowski bought 25,000 shares on the open market at USD 139.35 apiece—a signal that insiders are weighing long-term operating substance above near-term market doubts.
Product momentum continues as well. Oracle is preparing a fully managed cloud storage service for AI and enterprise workloads in partnership with NetApp, has expanded its financial-crime portfolio with agent-based AI capabilities, and has connected platforms to Swift's blockchain network.
In German trading, the stock changed hands at EUR 124.92, a daily gain of 1.7%. The broader trend tells a more sober story: shares are down 24% to 25% year-to-date, with the market already pricing in persistent execution challenges. Until it becomes clear how smoothly megaprojects like Project Jupiter can connect to the grid, investors would be wise not to mistake a single favorable session for a lasting turnaround. Oracle's nuclear bet shows how unconditionally the company has tied its future to the AI card—whether the math works depends less on algorithms than on whether the power actually flows on time.