{"slug": "it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracle-s-debt-is-close-to-junk", "title": "IT will be a $6.37 trillion market this year - and Oracle's debt is close to junk status", "summary": "Global IT spending will hit $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% year-on-year, driven by data centre (62.5%) and IaaS spending (29.3%), according to Gartner. However, Oracle's stock has cratered from $300+ to $114 amid debt and cash flow concerns, with S&P Global downgrading its long-term issuer credit rating to 'BBB-' from 'BB', one level above junk, citing significant upfront capital investments for AI and risks if leading frontier model developers cannot secure financing.", "body_md": "[Oracle](/tag/oracle/)\n\nGlobal IT spending will hit $6.37 trillion in 2026, said Gartner – that’s more than the combined GDP of Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and the UK.\n\nData centre (62.5%) and IaaS spending (29.3%) will, unsurprisingly, be the biggest drivers of the growth, the research house said today.\n\nWorldwide IT spending will be up 14.2% on-year, the firm predicted.\n\n**Humanity’s biggest ever infra. build?**\n\nGartner’s John-David Lovelock described the AI buildout pithily as “the largest infrastructure project ever attempted by humanity…”\n\nBut “this is not a rising tide lifts all boats market trend,” he added.\n\n“Inflation, supply shortages, rising hardware and memory costs, AI funding initiatives and shifting priorities,” are all straining budgets.\n\nThe market is starting to react cautiously, if not negatively to the levels of CapEx outlay needed for this kind of AI infrastructure buildout.\n\n**Markets: Is this AI debt junk? **\n\nOracle is the poster child for investor concerns on this front.\n\nFrom a September 2025 peak, its stock has cratered from highs of $300+ to $114 as *The Stack* published, on debt and cash flow concerns.\n\nRatings agency S&P Global downgraded Oracle’s long-term issuer credit rating (ICR) 'BBB-' from 'BB earlier this month – one level above junk.\n\nIts analysts said on July 9: “Oracle’s AI business requires significant upfront capital investments and long-term data center leases, both of which we have continually underestimated. Rising component costs could also pressure the economics of the AI business model…”\n\nDemand “could reverse if leading frontier model developers are unable to raise external financing or stop subsidizing their customers.”\n\nS&P [ estimates](https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/regulatory/article/-/view/sourceId/101695609?ref=thestack.technology) that\n\n[OpenAI alone makes up “roughly half” of Oracle’s $638 billion in remaining performance obligations (RPO).](https://www.wheresyoured.at/exclusive-openai-financials/?ref=thestack.technology)\n\n__loss-making__The ratings agency in May estimated that Alphabet could [ increase](https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/regulatory/article/-/view/type/HTML/id/3556333?ref=thestack.technology) net debt by $180 billion before reaching its downgrade threshold.\n\nCTOs tell *The Stack* that they are under growing pressure to deliver clear ROI from AI investments which are eating into broader IT pots. Pressure for productivity improvements is also putting significant pressure on existing staff budgets and scrutiny on their performance.\n\n## Sign up for The Stack\n\nInterviews, insight, intelligence, and exclusive events for digital leaders.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracle-s-debt-is-close-to-junk", "canonical_source": "https://www.thestack.technology/it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracles-debt-is-close-to-junk-status/", "published_at": "2026-07-27 11:23:54+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-27 11:52:55.393591+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Oracle", "Gartner", "S&P Global", "John-David Lovelock", "OpenAI", "Alphabet"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracle-s-debt-is-close-to-junk", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracle-s-debt-is-close-to-junk.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracle-s-debt-is-close-to-junk.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/it-will-be-a-6-37-trillion-market-this-year-and-oracle-s-debt-is-close-to-junk.jsonld"}}