The artificial intelligence gold rush hit a speed bump on Wednesday as Oracle shares plummeted more than 10 percent, proving that even doubling profits isn’t enough to satisfy Wall Street’s insatiable appetite for growth.

The sharp sell-off highlights a growing global anxiety: investors are beginning to question when the billions of dollars poured into AI infrastructure will yield proportional returns—a sentiment likely to ripple through tech markets from Silicon Valley to Nairobi.

The Trillion-Shilling Disconnect

In a twist that defies traditional logic, the Texas-based computing behemoth actually delivered a stellar financial performance. Oracle reported that net income for the recently ended quarter nearly doubled to $6.1 billion (approx. KES 793 billion). To put that figure into perspective, that quarterly profit rivals the cost of constructing the entire Standard Gauge Railway.

Total revenue climbed 14 percent year-on-year to hit $16.05 billion (approx. KES 2.08 trillion). However, in the high-stakes world of tech trading, meeting targets is not enough; companies must exceed them.

The market’s negative reaction was triggered by the company missing the "heady expectations" analysts had set, specifically regarding the speed of AI adoption.

• Net Income: $6.1 billion (approx. KES 793 billion) – nearly double the previous year.
• Total Revenue: $16.05 billion (approx. KES 2.08 trillion) – up 14 percent.
• Cloud Unit Revenue: $8 billion (approx. KES 1.04 trillion) – up 34 percent.

Betting Big on the Future

Despite the stock slide, Oracle’s leadership remains bullish on their strategy. The company’s cloud and business computing unit, which is critical for hosting the massive datasets required for AI, saw revenue jump by 34 percent.

According to the earnings report, Oracle Chief Executive Mike Sicilia emphasized the dual nature of their current business model.

"AI training and selling AI models are very big businesses," Sicilia noted in the release. "We think there is an even larger opportunity -- embedding AI in a variety of different products."

However, the 10 percent drop in after-market trading suggests that patience is wearing thin. Investors are increasingly wary of the massive capital expenditure tech companies are pouring into infrastructure.

As tech giants continue their spending spree, the market has sent a clear message: promises of a future AI utopia are no longer enough—investors want to see the cash register ring today.