The article compares Oracle (ORCL) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) on financial health, growth and valuation. Oracle's trailing revenue was nearly $72 billion, up about 22%, but its trailing free cash flow was negative $29 billion due to heavy data center spending. Palo Alto's fiscal 2026 revenue was roughly $11.5 billion, up about 25%, while net income was about $307 million. The author leans toward Oracle, citing demand that exceeds cloud compute supply and $664 billion in contracted revenue yet to be delivered; analysts expect Oracle's earnings to grow 23% annually versus 12% for Palo Alto, with forward earnings multiples of 15 and 94, respectively. The article also flags Oracle's high leverage as a risk if AI demand slows.
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