Stock Market Today, Feb. 9: Oracle Rallies as AI Spending Reframes Its Cloud Growth Story

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) added 0.45% to finish Monday at 6,964, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) gained 0.90% to close at 23,239. Within software – infrastructure, industry peers Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed at $413.71 (+3.13%) and SAP (NYSE:SAP) finished at $210.41 (+3.48%), reflecting broad strength across large-cap enterprise software names.

What this means for investors

Oracle’s rally reflects renewed confidence that its cloud business is directly benefiting from AI-driven infrastructure spending. While D.A. Davidson’s upgrade contributed to the move, broader gains among large-cap software companies suggest a wider reassessment of enterprise cloud demand beyond a single rating change.

This shift is supported by strong AI-related capital spending. Increased cloud investment from major platforms has eased concerns that Oracle could be overshadowed by larger hyperscalers, strengthening its long-term expansion strategy. Investors now view Oracle as an active participant in AI infrastructure development rather than a legacy provider. Oracle’s expansion of cloud capacity requires significant investment, keeping attention on cash generation and returns as spending ramps up. Investors will be watching upcoming results and cloud utilization closely to see whether AI-driven demand can translate into durable growth without pressuring free cash flow.

Should you buy stock in Oracle right now?

Before you buy stock in Oracle, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Oracle wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $443,299!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,136,601!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 914% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 195% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of February 9, 2026.

Eric Trie has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends SAP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.