A recent report noted that Oracle is looking to protect itself from paying some expenses if a high-profile data-center project gets delayed
Oracle's stock is set to fall on Thursday.
Shares of Oracle are falling in premarket action on Thursday after a report flagged challenges related to a data-center project in New Mexico.
A story from Bloomberg News on Thursday morning said that Oracle (ORCL) is taking steps to protect itself from incurring heavy costs related to a New Mexico data center that's been called Project Jupiter. Oracle is trying to insulate itself from having to make payments if the project isn't able to bring capacity online in 2028 as was expected, the report noted, citing anonymous sources.
The stock was off 4% ahead of the market open.
Oracle didn't immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.
The company has been moving to dramatically expand data-center capacity in service of big artificial-intelligence cloud contracts. The New Mexico site specifically is related to Stargate, a high-profile venture involving Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank.
But data-center development in general has hit roadblocks thanks to local backlash, an electricity crunch and other factors.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
-Emily Bary