Oracle Dips 29% YTD as AI Push Faces Cost Hurdles

Oracle stock has fallen about 29% year-to-date even as it deepens its AI push, boasting a $553 billion AI backlog. Rising infrastructure costs to support growth have raised concerns, with some analysts warning about margins while others bullishly cite a broad, multi-layer AI strategy spanning cloud, database, and applications. The stock remains broadly supported by analysts (Strong Buy consensus) with upside potential to targets around $245 per share, though execution and AI spending remain key uncertainties (up to roughly $50B in capex).