Asian Stocks Fall as Japanese Auto Makers Retreat

Oracle fell 10.1% in after-hours trading despite the positive results it reported after the close, after announcing that it plans to raise an additional $20 billion through debt and a share offering in the coming fiscal year to fund investment in artificial intelligence. This is in addition to the $20 billion it had already announced it expects to raise, for a total of $40 billion.

The cloud, artificial intelligence and data center giant ended the fourth fiscal quarter with revenue of $19.18 billion, a 21% increase from the same quarter a year earlier, above analysts’ expectations of $19.10 billion. Net profit was $4.22 billion, compared with $3.43 billion in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings came to $2.03 per share, also above forecasts of $1.96 per share. Revenue from cloud services jumped 47% to $9.91 billion; the cloud infrastructure division generated $5.8 billion in revenue, a strong 93% increase from a year earlier; software services revenue totaled $7.8 billion, down 2% year over year.

Oracle issued guidance saying that in the coming fiscal year adjusted earnings will be $1.72 to $1.76 per share and revenue will grow 27% to 29%. Analysts expect earnings of $1.68 per share and revenue of $19.06 billion, a figure that reflects 28% annual growth.

Continuation of the negative trend in Asia

Asian markets retreated amid continued tensions in Iran, which are pushing up oil prices, and after a night of sharp losses on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones down 1.9%, the S&P 500 down 1.6% and the Nasdaq down 2%.

The Nikkei is down 1.5%, the Hang Seng is down 1.2%, the Kospi is down 1.1%, and Shanghai is down 0.5%. In oil, Brent is up 1.5% to $94.5 a barrel, and WTI is up 1.7% to $91.7 a barrel.

Leading the Nikkei is printing and technology company Toppan Printing, which is jumping 12%, alongside a sharp 7.5% rise in food and pharmaceutical raw materials company Ajinomoto, which is also climbing 7.5%. Heavy industry giant Kawasaki Heavy Industries is down 5.4% at the bottom of the index.

Japanese bank stocks are falling sharply, Nomura is down 3.2% and Mitsubishi Financial is down 2.4%. Auto stocks are also lower, Toyota and Mazda are weakening by 3%, Suzuki is down 3.8%, and Nissan is down 1.7%.

SoftBank, which fell nearly 9% yesterday, is down another 3.9%. South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom, from SK Holdings, which also holds SK Hynix, is losing 7.5% at the bottom of the Kospi index. And in Hong Kong, Alibaba is down 5.3% and Baidu is losing 4.2%.