Tom Essaye Notes That The Sustainability Worries Are Still Valid

Essaye notes that the sustainability worries are still valid, highlighted by Oracle’s recent report.

“Using simple math, it appears that Oracle will have a close to 100% sales/capex ratio in 2027,” writes Essaye. “To keep things simple, that means Oracle will spend all of its revenue on capex, the vast majority of which will go into AI infrastructure. That means that Oracle will almost certainly have negative free cash flow and that is only sustainable for so long, even for a company like Oracle.”

Here is where the dot-com bubble comes back into play, Essaye notes, because the current AI buildout could wind up being similar to the widespread effort to build fiber access to the internet to homes across the country in the late 1990s. That demand turned out to be unsustainable, as connecting people to the internet wasn’t as profitable as initially hoped.

“Practically, I don’t think this means anyone needs to reduce tech exposure today,” Essaye concludes. “But this situation (i.e., are earnings gains sustainable?) is something that needs to be watched, so ensuring one isn’t too overweight tech and has proper balance remains important.”