Bloomberg Tech: Oracle Shares Skyrocket On a Strong Cloud Outlook

Date: September 10, 2025
Host(s): Caroline Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)
Guests: Anurag Rana (Bloomberg Intelligence), Sebastian Shmielski (Klarna CEO), Vasu Kulkarni (Courtside Ventures), Larry Fitzgerald (NFL veteran), Aisha Evans (Zoox CEO), Martin Mino (Index Ventures), Bloomberg reporters

Episode Overview

This episode explores a transformative day in tech markets, headlined by Oracle's stock experiencing its largest one-day jump in decades, shattering expectations with its cloud outlook and business backlog. The show also features interviews with Klarna's CEO as the company goes public, deep dives into trends in sports investing and media, advances in autonomous vehicles, and a critical exposé on potential design flaws in Tesla vehicles. The episode threads a narrative of rapid evolution in AI, cloud, fintech, and mobility, capturing the intersection of innovation, investment, and societal impacts.

Major Topics & Insights

1. Oracle's Historic Surge and Cloud Trajectory

Key Segment: [02:09]–[06:27]

Discussion Points

• Oracle shares jumped 42%, marking their biggest single-day gain since 1990.
  • Oracle's market cap nears $1 trillion, entering the S&P 500 top ten and leapfrogging JP Morgan.
• Driving factors:
  • Cloud business outlook extends aggressively through 2030.
  • "The order book, it's like $450 billion." – Host [02:34]
  • Analysts are "in shock" at scale and forward guidance.
• Expert Insight by Anurag Rana (Bloomberg Intelligence):
  • Oracle is deploying latest infrastructure, renting GPU capacity for AI workloads, similar to CoreWeave, but backed by high-margin software/applications.
  • Oracle can fund expansion internally unlike “new cloud” upstarts.
  • Cloud revenue base was under $10B a year ago versus Amazon’s $125B and Azure’s $75B.
  • Hard pivot into cloud began in ~2017 for database use; AI demand exploded need for compute capacity.
  • "They have the latest infrastructure right now... they are creating bare metal computing for anybody to come out and host their application or train their large language model." – Anurag Rana [04:40]

Memorable Moment

• Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison becomes the world’s richest person for the first time, surpassing Elon Musk as his fortune hits $393B after Oracle’s results. [06:02]

2. Apple and iPhone 17 Market Dynamics

Key Segment: [06:27]–[09:25]

Discussion Points

• Recent iPhone 17 launch could yield a “high single digit lift” in sales; market expects only ~1% unit shipment growth but actual may be 3–5%.
• Revenue per user rising due to “forced” higher entry-level storage tiers.
• U.S. pro models expected to dominate sales, driven also by carriers offering discounts.
  • "The refresh cycle is getting extended... But if you give them the incentive to go out and get a new phone, you could accelerate that." – Anurag Rana [08:01]
• Apple’s stock drops 4.5% in two days, which is characterized as a “sell the news” event.

3. Klarna IPO: From Buy Now Pay Later to Fintech Platform

Key Segment: [12:13]–[21:48]

Discussion Points

• Klarna goes public at $40/share; initial trading indicates $50–$52.
  • $15.1B market cap; CEO Sebastian Shmielski “very excited about this.”
• Klarna repositioning: much more than “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL), building out a card product and broader “everything app.”
  • 700k new U.S. card signups in six weeks; 5M waiting list.
  • "Best part of the roadshow... was when the receptionist said, 'Oh you're from Klarna. I use it all the time. Just get me the card.'" – Sebastian Shmielski [13:53]
• U.S. “self-aware avoiders” of credit cards are primary growth market.
• CEO not selling any shares: “Been doing this for two decades. I hope to continue for a few decades... If you’re truly going to disrupt retail banking... that's going to take some time.” – Shmielski [15:39]
• IPO motivation: enable liquidity for long-term staff/private investors, not capital needs. Only $200M raised; company nearly self-funding.
• Competition: traditional credit cards ($1.3T market), not just fintech peers Affirm and Revolut.
• Regulatory stance: Klarna thinks its model (low/zero interest, low balances) is better for consumers and easier for regulators to embrace: “Our losses are 30% lower than credit cards, our consumers are borrowing much less.” [18:27]
• Efficiency through AI: Workforce has shrunk from 7,400 to 3,000, as Klarna digitized workflows and plans to launch new AI-powered banking features.
  • “We probably over index a little bit on efficiency.” – Shmielski [19:53]
• The new key performance metric: Revenue per customer (currently have 111M users).

4. Evolution in Sports & Media Investing

Key Segment: [21:48]–[30:54]

Guests: Vasu Kulkarni (Courtside Ventures), Larry Fitzgerald (NFL legend/investor)

Discussion Points

• Sports investing now spans wellness, fitness, collectables, fandom, and shorter-form, digitally native sports.
  • “Longevity... is the name of the game this year. How are you going to live to be 100 years old? To me, all of that is sports.” – Vasu Kulkarni [22:59]
• Women’s sports is “the most undervalued asset class in sports” per Fitzgerald, with flag football joining the Olympics.
• Content consumption is fragmenting: younger fans want highlights, not whole games (RedZone/channelized, snackable content).
  • “My sons... have no interest in watching the entire football game. They want to watch Red Zone.” – Fitzgerald [24:56]
• New leagues like Germany’s Baller League use social media influencers to amass millions of viewers overnight, bypassing traditional media.
  • “On day one, you're talking about an audience that's already there.” – Kulkarni [26:02]
• Collectibles market ($600B) set for “better buyer and seller experiences” as tech enters the space.
• Globalization of fandom and sports (cricket in India, football in America): “Sports is really unique because it transcends race, it transcends religion, it's the one thing that you can do and not have to talk about politics...” – Fitzgerald [29:51]

5. Robotaxis, Autonomous Vehicles & Uber Partnership

Key Segment: [32:52]–[39:23]

Key Announcements

• Joby/Uber: Joby expands partnership; soon Uber app users can book air taxis and seaplanes, integrating into the app alongside cars (currently available in NYC, some of Southern Europe).
• Lyft/Maine Mobility: Self-driving rides launch in Atlanta (with a safety operator initially).
• Zoox (Aisha Evans, CEO): Launches first driverless vehicle service on the Las Vegas strip, a purpose-built vehicle with no driver controls, now available to the public at five Vegas locations. Expansion to San Francisco is coming.
  • “We finally launched it essentially to the public, which is really nice. There's an app. Please download it if you're in Vegas... 11am to 1am.” – Aisha Evans [34:35]
• Zoox approach: deliberate, slower, but full-stack custom rollout versus retrofits. Service starts free, fares will be introduced after regulatory approvals and learnings.

6. Fintech, Generative AI, and European Tech Ecosystems

Key Segment: [40:01]–[46:39]

Insights with Martin Mino (Index Ventures)

• Generative AI dominates deal flow (~two-thirds of Index Ventures’ activity), but verticals like healthcare and fintech are also hot.
  • “Gen AI is becoming everything.” – Mino [40:28]
• Klarna IPO signals Europe can build tech leaders; Fintech like Klarna and Revolut are outgrowing doubters by being customer-centric and agile.
• U.S. remains the locus for liquidity—most European unicorns list in America due to deeper capital markets and network effects.
  • “US capital markets are all deeper...there’s more knowledge.” – Mino [42:38]
• Index’s secret: balanced scale for personalized, long-term founder relationships.

7. Tesla Door Safety Investigation

Key Segment: [49:33]–[53:19]

Highlights

• Bloomberg investigates Tesla’s electronic door handles/mechanical releases and finds they introduce safety risks during crashes or power loss—exiting becomes complicated, especially for rear passengers.
  • In crashes, rescuers couldn't open Tesla doors, had to smash windows [51:04].
  • Regulations focus on crash survivability, not post-crash egress; technology (strong glass, electric handles) makes escape harder.
• Neither Tesla nor regulators have directly addressed these issues despite accumulating complaints.

Notable Quotes

• "They have the latest infrastructure right now... bare metal computing for anybody to come out and host their application or train their large language model." – Anurag Rana, [04:40]

• “I'm not selling a single share in this IPO... If you're truly going to disrupt retail banking... that's going to take some time.” – Sebastian Shmielski (Klarna CEO), [15:39]

• “My sons... have no interest in watching the entire football game. They want to watch Red Zone. They want to see the snippets.” – Larry Fitzgerald [24:56]

• “On day one, you're talking about an audience that's already there.” – Vasu Kulkarni (Courtside Ventures), [26:02]

• "We have shrunk the company from 7,400 to 3,000 people, which is fantastic. But I would say we probably over index a little bit on efficiency." – Sebastian Shmielski (Klarna CEO) [19:53]

• "Sports is really unique because it transcends race, it transcends religion, it's the one thing that you can do and not have to talk about politics or worry about those type of things." – Larry Fitzgerald [29:51]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Oracle’s cloud surge & Ellison’s wealth: [02:09]–[06:27]
• Apple/iPhone 17 market reaction: [06:27]–[09:25]
• Klarna’s IPO & fintech model: [12:13]–[21:48]
• Sports investing, NFTs, globalization: [21:48]–[30:54]
• Joby/Uber, Zoox, AV news: [32:52]–[39:23]
• European tech VC, Index Ventures: [40:01]–[46:39]
• Tesla door safety investigation: [49:33]–[53:19]

Tone & Style

The episode delivers fast-paced, data-driven analysis with guest insights, keeping a businesslike yet energetic atmosphere. There's rapid back-and-forth on news, with CEOs and analysts breaking down complex developments into takeaways for investors, founders, and observers.

Summary Takeaway

A record day for Oracle sets the financial and innovation tone, showing that cloud, AI, and high-margin software are revolutionizing both business models and personal fortunes. Klarna’s IPO indicates a maturing and diversifying fintech landscape, while sports and media investing radically evolve with digital culture and influencer economics. Autonomous mobility marches into the real world, and ongoing scrutiny on tech safety (Tesla) punctuates how innovations must still contend with life’s realities.

For more detailed stories and in-depth interviews, listen to the full episode or access the Bloomberg Tech podcast archive.