Fed Holds Rates Steady While Oracle Surges 11% on Bold Long-Term Revenue Targets

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.75%-4.00% in a 10-2 vote on Wednesday, giving investors little clarity on a potential December move and saying future decisions will depend on incoming data. The S&P 500 ended the session up 0.28% at 7,721.79, the Dow gained 0.19%, and the Nasdaq added 0.21% to close at 26,533, with the advance driven by select chipmakers and a dramatic single-stock surge in Oracle rather than broad market strength.

Oracle was the day's headline mover, jumping roughly 11% after the company held its financial analyst day in Las Vegas and issued sweeping long-term targets. Management said revenue should reach at least $225 billion by fiscal year 2030, implying annual growth of 35% or more from fiscal 2026 levels, while free cash flow is expected to turn positive in the second half of fiscal year 2028. For the nearer-term fiscal 2027, Oracle reaffirmed guidance of at least $90 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings of $8.10 per share. Options market sentiment flipped sharply bullish as the stock ripped, with net call premium jumping to roughly $73 million while put premium faded.

Chipmakers extended their rally after SK Hynix reported strong results, with Micron rising 5.87%, AMD climbing 3.25%, and Broadcom gaining 2.77%. AI infrastructure names also outperformed, with CoreWeave up 7.32%, NBIS surging 6.97%, and IREN climbing 5.10%. Vertiv Holdings led the S&P 500 with a gain of 16.48%, while F5 was the worst performer, falling 20.43%.

Wendy's shares soared 15.15% after Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management offered to acquire the company at $7.35 per share. Tesla surpassed Meta in market capitalization during the session, while Nvidia slipped 1.18% and Meta fell 1.24%. After the close, Microsoft reported earnings that beat expectations while Alphabet fell short, with options markets pricing implied moves of 4.7% and 5.9% respectively for the two stocks.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.05% from 4.99% as traders priced in the possibility of a December rate hike, with short-dated Treasuries outperforming. WTI crude surged 2.63% to $102.53 per barrel after Houthi militants struck Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery. The CBOE Volatility Index held below 18 throughout the session.