Key Highlights

● Oracle bounced back $6.21 on Friday to close at $141.40, recovering part of Thursday's steep slide.

● A Thursday media report put OpenAI's annualized Revenue near $50 billion, roughly $20 billion below an earlier circulated figure.

● A separate report said OpenAI expects to reach at least $70 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.

● Microsoft gained $12.46 to $535.07 and Amazon rose $8.37 to $262.43, while Nvidia and AMD slipped.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) bounced back on Friday, gaining $6.21 to close at $141.40. The move recovered part of a steep slide on Thursday, when Oracle was among the hardest-hit large companies in a broad selloff in AI-linked stocks. There was no new company-specific announcement behind Friday's gain; instead, the stock rose with a broad rebound in software, as investors who had dumped AI-linked names a day earlier reconsidered what the latest reports really meant.

What happened on Thursday

On Thursday, a media report said that OpenAI's annualized revenue was about $50 billion at the end of September. That was roughly $20 billion below a figure that had circulated in late September, which appears to have included gross or partner revenue. The news landed hard on companies whose growth is closely tied to OpenAI's spending plans. Oracle, CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) all fell, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped sharply.

Oracle's exposure stems from its role as a major infrastructure partner to OpenAI. The company has been building out large data-center capacity to run AI workloads, and investors watch OpenAI's finances closely because they bear on how much computing power it can afford to buy.

Why sentiment turned

By Friday, the story had shifted. A separate media report said OpenAI expects to reach at least $70 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026. That helped reassure investors that the gap highlighted on Thursday may reflect differences in how revenue was being measured rather than a collapse in demand.

Software and cloud names led the bounce. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained $12.46 to $535.07, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose $8.37 to $262.43, and Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) hit a record close, according to market data. Cybersecurity stocks also rallied. Chipmakers, however, lagged. Nvidia slipped $1.20 to $229.28 and AMD fell $12.58 to $608.10, suggesting the market drew a line between the companies selling AI services and those supplying the hardware.

A broader market near records

The S&P 500 rose 46.18 points to 7,811.54, finishing about seven points below its record close of 7,818.93 set on Tuesday. The Dow gained 423.31 points to 51,654.95 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 172.83 points to 27,366.17. Over the week, the Nasdaq notched its fourth straight weekly gain.

The macro backdrop remains demanding. The 10-year Treasury Yield is near a 24-year high, and the Federal Reserve, which raised rates in September for the first time since 2023, has signaled more hikes may come. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he anticipates additional hikes to bring Inflation back to the Fed's goal. High rates matter for companies like Oracle that are investing heavily in data centers.

Michael Monaghan of Founder ETFs said: "Chips have been this year's story." Friday's action suggested investors are still sorting out which parts of the AI story deserve the most confidence.

OpenAI Reporting and Data-Center Spending Keep Oracle in a Narrow Spotlight

US stocks trade on Monday's Columbus Day holiday, while the Bond Market is closed. September consumer price data is due on Wednesday, October 14, and producer prices and retail sales follow on Thursday. Big banks report Earnings from October 13 to 16, and the Federal Reserve meets on October 27 and 28. Oracle investors will keep a close eye on any further reporting on OpenAI's revenue and spending plans, which has become a key swing Factor for the stock.