Oracle Corp. shares fell sharply Thursday after Bloomberg reported that the company sent a force-majeure notice to the developer of Project Jupiter, its large artificial-intelligence data-center project in New Mexico.
Oracle stock (NYSE: ORCL) was trading around $137.57 at approximately 10:40 a.m. ET on September 24, down about 4.75% from Wednesday’s $144.56 close. Shares had traded as low as roughly $133.48 by that point.
Bloomberg reported that Oracle sent the notice to a unit of Blue Owl Capital that is developing Project Jupiter. The notice is intended to protect Oracle’s contractual position and could allow the company to defer certain payments if the facility does not come online in 2028 as planned. Bloomberg also reported that Oracle is not seeking to leave the project as its main tenant.
“Project Jupiter remains on our planned schedule,” an Oracle spokesperson told Bloomberg, adding that the company is “fully committed to New Mexico and confident in our path forward.”
Blue Owl later said the notice does not change the financial commitments to the multiyear project and that the parties remain fully aligned on Project Jupiter.
Oracle’s decline came during a weaker broader market session. U.S. stock-index futures were lower before the opening bell, with technology shares also under pressure.
Force-Majeure Notice Covers Oracle’s Contractual Position
Bloomberg reported that Oracle issued the notice to establish contractual protections if conditions affecting Project Jupiter prevent the facility from entering service on schedule.
The report did not say Oracle had canceled, abandoned or withdrawn from the project. It also did not report that Oracle had suspended payments.
Bloomberg said the notice does not automatically release Oracle from previously agreed financial obligations. Any contractual effect would depend on the terms of the agreements and whether the conditions required to invoke force majeure are met.
Blue Owl owns data-center developer STACK Infrastructure. STACK has identified itself as a developer and operator involved in Project Jupiter alongside BorderPlex Digital Assets.
Project Jupiter Is Designed For About 2.45 GW of Power Capacity
Project Jupiter is being built in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, as part of Oracle’s data-center expansion.
Oracle has said the development is designed to be supported by as much as 2.45 gigawatts of installed power capacity.
Power infrastructure and permitting have been separate parts of the project’s development process. Oracle said on September 14 that the data-center campus and the proposed adjacent microgrid are separate facilities on separate sites operated by separate companies.
The company also said construction on the data-center campus does not require the air-quality permit being sought for the microgrid and that work on the buildings was continuing under county permits.
Separately, Oracle said on September 14 that the New Mexico Supreme Court had stayed the administrative proceeding concerning the microgrid’s air-quality permit. On September 17, however, the court denied the underlying petition and lifted the stay, allowing the air-permit proceeding to resume.
Bloomberg reported on September 24 that an Energy Transfer natural-gas pipeline intended to supply fuel to Project Jupiter had been delayed nearly six months to February 1, 2027, following repeated route-permit denials from the New Mexico State Land Office.
Project Jupiter is part of Oracle’s broader capital-intensive data-center expansion, which has sharply increased the company’s infrastructure spending and long-term commitments.
Oracle reported $55.7 billion of capital expenditures in fiscal 2026, up from $21.2 billion the previous year, with spending driven primarily by data-center expansion. Free cash flow was negative $23.7 billion for the year.
As of August 31, Oracle disclosed $288 billion of additional lease commitments, substantially all related to data-center arrangements. The commitments are generally expected to commence between the second quarter of fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2029 and have terms of 15 to 19 years.
About $18 Billion of Project Jupiter Loans Were Under Pressure
Project Jupiter’s financing had drawn scrutiny before Thursday’s report.
Reuters reported on September 18, citing the Financial Times, that about $18 billion of loans tied to the Oracle-leased Project Jupiter data center were trading at roughly 89 to 91 cents on the dollar.
Efforts to distribute the loans more broadly had stalled amid lender concerns about Oracle’s financing requirements and credit profile, Reuters reported.
The financing is tied to the Project Jupiter development and Oracle’s lease of the site rather than being described in the report as $18 billion of direct Oracle corporate debt.
ORCLB Falls Alongside Oracle Shares
Meanwhile, Oracle Tokenized bStocks (ORCLB) was trading at about $137.35, down 6.77% over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
With about 24.26K ORCLB in circulation, the token had a market capitalization of approximately $3.33M. ORCLB is separate from Oracle’s NYSE-listed common stock. It is a tokenized security issued by BTech Holdings Limited, a Binance group affiliate, rather than by Oracle Corp., and does not represent direct ownership of Oracle shares.
Project Schedule and Financing Remain Key Reported Milestones
Project Jupiter is currently expected to enter service in 2028, according to Bloomberg, while Oracle continues to say the project remains on its planned schedule.
Further disclosures on construction progress, the pipeline schedule, the microgrid air-permit proceeding, project financing, or the contractual effect of the force-majeure notice would provide additional information on the development’s status.