Every cloud has a silver lining — and Oracle’sORCL

rise in the cloud sector is proof of that. After years of stagnation, attempts to modernize its systems, and even a TikTok acquisition bid, the database giant is back. Thanks to a focus on AI, strategic partnerships, and cloud solutions, Oracle’s market cap has surged past $400B — putting it among the “big four” of cloud computing, alongside Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, according to Piper Sandler analysts.

Cloud Nine and climbing: With its stock soaring 50%+ over the last 12 months, Oracle has outperformed the Nasdaq and S&P 500’s 24% and 15% gains, as well as many of its competitors. Its first-quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, with revenue from internet-based infrastructure jumping 45% year-over-year (YoY) to $2.2B — the company’s best quarter yet.

• Much of this growth comes from AI developers and large clients looking for advanced AI features and scalable cloud services.
• Guggenheim’s John DiFucci acknowledged that the database powerhouse, once thought to have peaked, is now seeing exciting yields after years of slow growth.

Keep Your Friends Close (And Competitors Closer)

By not building its own AI models, Oracle has stayed neutral and partnered with competitors like MicrosoftMSFT

and GoogleGOOG

. This platform-agnostic approach allows the AI-driven cloud innovator to offer services to customers on rival platforms, fueling growth.

• Oracle has signed 30 sales contracts worth over $12.5B — including deals with OpenAI, Elon Musk’s xAI, and NvidiaNVDA
  for AI training and computing (BBG).
• It also partnered with Amazon Web ServicesAMZN
  , allowing customers to use Oracle’s database infrastructure.

AI, the gift that keeps on giving: Morgan Stanley estimates that AI could account for half of Oracle’s total cloud revenue by 2027 as more companies increase their AI spending. Mizuho Securities’ Jordan Klein noted, “People aren’t yet fully confident that Oracle will be a sustained AI winner, but there’s a wave of investors who will become convinced if it puts up another good quarter” (BBG).