FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Oracle logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(This March 10 story has been corrected to say 'analysts' average estimate,' not 'median estimate,' in paragraph 11)
(Reuters) - Oracle CEO Safra Catz on Monday gave a strong growth outlook for its fiscal 2026 and 2027, indicating that the skyrocketing demand for advanced artificial intelligence computing shows no signs of slowing down.
The company expects fiscal 2026 revenue to grow 15% while fiscal 2027 revenue is forecast to grow 20%, both surpassing analysts' estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Oracle, which is a latecomer to a cloud market dominated by Microsoft and Amazon, has been working to boost the appeal of its cloud services by incorporating AI to process large amounts of information.
To support these data-intensive AI services, the company has been strategically expanding its infrastructure with investments in both data centers and semiconductor technology.
"We are on schedule to double our data center capacity this calendar year," Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said. "Customer demand is at record levels."
Oracle is part of an AI joint venture called Stargate, along with ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Softbank, where they have committed up to $500 billion towards developing AI capabilities in the United States.
"Guidance for next fiscal year is impressive and reflects Oracle's ability to grow its Oracle Cloud business," D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said.
Catz also said on the post-earnings conference call that the company's capital expenditure for this fiscal year will more than double to $16 billion and added that demand is "dramatically" outstripping supply.
"There's still a big question out there, which is whether cloud infrastructure providers are overspending and overbuilding to support AI workloads that either won't materialize or won't be cost effective without changes in the underlying AI and models they run," said Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of industry analyst firm Valoir.
Cloud revenue in the third quarter rose 23% to $6.2 billion.
The company reported revenue of $14.13 billion, missing the analysts' average estimate of $14.39 billion.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.47 per share, compared with estimates of $1.49 per share.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Alan Barona)
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