By Nauman Khan
Publication Date: 2026-01-23 11:30:00
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Last week, Michael Burry (Commercial, Portfolio) caused turmoil in the markets by taking a bearish stance on Oracle (NYSE:ORCL). The investor, known for his pre-2008 real estate bet, disclosed put options in his paid newsletter and said he had shorted the stock.
He previously took positions against Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR).
Oracle has ridden the AI wave through aggressive data center expansion and an order backlog that reached $523 billion in the second quarter. That shortfall is slowly turning into short-term revenue: Oracle told investors that only about 10% is expected to turn into revenue over the next 12 months. Capital expenditures reached about $12 billion from $8.5 billion, and the company expects about $50 billion for FY26.
Burry’s concern focuses on leverage and execution. Oracle has significant debt and reported about $124 billion including leases in the second quarter. Free cash flow turned negative by $10 billion during this period,…
