Oracle is giving Wall Street numbers it can bet on as Larry Ellison’s tech giant becomes investors’ new favorite AI play

And the good times don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The company has a backlog of deals worth $455 billion. Chief among them is Oracle’s partnership in President Donald Trump’s Stargate AI project alongside OpenAI and SoftBank.

All of that represents more certainty than lots of AI companies can provide, as they continue to burn through cash on their way to chasing a sustainable business model.

Of course, having a backlog of deals (more formally known as “remaining performance obligations”) doesn’t guarantee they’ll all come to fruition. The revenue isn’t guaranteed, as contracts can be cancelled and the timing on all the deals isn’t clear.

Oracle also still needs to do the actual legwork to meet those demands. It’s not as simple as flicking a switch to service more customers. It’ll require more investment and buildouts that aren’t foolproof.

Still, as Wall Street is acknowledging, it’s a lot more concrete than the type of projections some AI players are offering up.

1. What Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book says about his Wall Street origins. The 200-page book — recently released by the House Oversight Committee — includes five letters from former colleagues at Bear Stearns, where Epstein worked until 1981. Their inclusion doesn’t indicate wrongdoing, but the letters offer a glimpse into how Epstein’s Wall Street career began.

2. Better hope consumer inflation keeps its cool. If inflation data comes in hotter than expected this morning, JPMorgan foresees the S&P 500 tumbling as much as 8%. Economists expect inflation to have risen 0.3% for the month and 2.9% on a year-over-year basis.

3. Point72’s quantitative investing unit has a new leader. Geoffrey Lauprete, WorldQuant’s former CIO, is now leading Cubist Systematic Strategies, replacing Denis Dancanet. The leadership shakeup comes as a surprise to some industry insiders, as Lauprete was actively fundraising to launch his own trading firm.

1. Klarna is officially public after 20 years. Investors of the “buy now, pay later” company are finally seeing a windfall after its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Its IPO was priced at $40 a share, giving it a $15.1 billion valuation, and its stock popped 30%. It’s not all good news, though. Its new RTO mandate garnered an emoji-fueled response from employees.

2. Inside the leadership shake-up at a key xAI team. At least nine high-level employees on the team that trains Grok had their Slack accounts deactivated over the weekend, according to screenshots seen by BI. Workers said that other employees on the team were called into one-on-one meetings where they were asked to explain their value to the company.

3. San Francisco is investigating Scale AI’s treatment of workers. Scale AI employs thousands of contractors to train the tech’s top AI models. Some have previously alleged the company underpaid them, denied them benefits, and misclassified them. The startup told BI that it’s cooperating with the city’s investigation and complies with all labor laws.

1. Conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was fatally shot. Kirk, 31, a Trump ally and the cofounder of the organization Turning Point USA, was shot on Wednesday while speaking at an event on a college campus in Utah. Reactions from business leaders are pouring in. Jared Kushner, David Sacks, and Bill Ackman are among those expressing dismay at Kirk’s death.

2. A new phishing scam just landed. Fraudulent emails that look like they’re from shipping companies are asking people to pay money so their “packages” can clear customs. They’re trying to exploit the confusion around customs duties, following the end of the de minimis exemption. Here’s how to spot the scam.

3. Some Walmart Spark drivers got an extra payday. Well, not really: The retailer is paying some Spark delivery drivers for tips they should have already received, according to emails seen by BI. Some “tip adjustments” issued were hundreds of dollars, including interest.

• CPI data is released.

• Kroger reports earnings.

Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

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