What happened
Oracle shares traded higher in grey-market dealing on September 13, rising more than 2% at one point and standing at $148.94, up 1.44%, at the time of reporting.
Oracle said chairman Larry Ellison has cancelled a plan to sell no more than 50 million of the company's shares. The company said no Oracle stock was sold under the plan and that he has no other plans to sell any Oracle shares he holds.
Ellison had previously said a trading plan would allow him to sell up to 50 million Oracle common shares. The plan was adopted on June 22 and was set to end on October 24.
The company said the restructuring costs, including part of a layoff plan, would rise by about $700 million.
Oracle has said it expects to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 through debt and existing financing to build additional cloud infrastructure capacity, and plans to raise $40 billion this fiscal year through debt and equity financing, including a $20 billion stock sale completed in the first quarter.
Why it matters
The cancellation removes a potential source of share supply from the market, which may help explain the positive move in the grey market.
Ellison's decision is notable because he rarely sells large amounts of stock; even after any sale he would still hold 1.1 billion shares, more than 40% of the company.
The episode sits alongside investor concerns about how Oracle is financing its AI-driven expansion, even as they appear confident about that growth.
Key facts
Oracle's grey-market shares rose more than 2% intraday on September 13 and were up 1.44% at $148.94 at the time of reporting.
Oracle said Larry Ellison cancelled a plan to sell up to 50 million shares and that no shares were sold under it.
The plan was adopted on June 22 and was to end on October 24.
Ellison would still hold 1.1 billion shares, more than 40% of the company, after any sale.
Oracle said restructuring costs, including part of a layoff plan, would increase by about $700 million.
Oracle expects to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 through debt and existing financing, and plans $40 billion this fiscal year including a $20 billion stock sale completed in the first quarter.
What to watch next
Whether Oracle's shares hold their gains once regular trading resumes, after the stock reversed from a rise of as much as 7.8% on September 11 to close down about 2%.
How investors weigh Oracle's AI-driven growth against the financing methods behind its cloud build-out, a tension analysts say remains unresolved while cash flow recovery is still some way off.