Oracle's stock has already plummeted 30% this quarter. With just four trading days remaining in this period, the stock is on track for its steepest decline since the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.

Investors are growing increasingly skeptical about the database software supplier's ability to provide more server farms for ChatGPT operator OpenAI. OpenAI had agreed to a partnership with Oracle last September, involving an investment of over $300 billion.

Earlier this month, Oracle reported quarterly revenue and free cash flow that fell short of expectations. During the earnings call, the newly appointed finance chief, Doug Kehring, outlined a target for capital expenditures to reach $50 billion in fiscal year 2026. This represents a 43% increase from the plan announced in September and is double the amount from the same period last year. Furthermore, Oracle plans to enhance its cloud computing capacity with $24.8 billion in rental commitments and construct new data centers.

Such aggressive expansion will necessitate significant debt financing. In September, Oracle raised $18 billion through a massive bond issuance, one of the largest ever in the technology sector. Kehring committed to maintaining Oracle's investment-grade debt rating during the earnings call. However, skeptical investors appear unconvinced, as evidenced by the rising price of Oracle's credit default swaps.

In a report to clients on December 12, analysts at D.A. Davidson wrote, "Given that Oracle is barely hanging onto its investment-grade rating, we would be concerned about Oracle's ability to fulfill these obligations without restructuring the OpenAI contract." Their rating on the stock is equivalent to a Hold.