Oracle Corp. shares are struggling this year as investors balk at the massive debt load the software and cloud computing company has taken on to build out artificial intelligence infrastructure. Now, its earnings after the close Thursday will give Wall Street an indication of how much patience investors have left for such heavy AI spending. Oracle is betting big on AI-driven cloud growth, but rising interest costs and slowing enterprise demand have raised concerns about the sustainability of its capital-intensive strategy.

The upcoming earnings report will be a critical test of whether the market will continue to fund Oracle’s AI expansion or demand a shift toward profitability and debt reduction.