Oracle’s stock surged as much as 5% on Tuesday following the announcement of a preliminary agreement between the United States and China regarding TikTok during trade discussions held in Madrid. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed in a press conference on Monday that both nations have established a framework for the deal. Former President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to converse on Friday to finalize the agreement.
Although a specific U.S. buyer for TikTok has yet to be identified, Oracle has emerged as a strong frontrunner in the race to acquire the popular social media platform. CBS News reported on Tuesday that Oracle will be part of a consortium of companies involved in the preliminary U.S.-China deal, which aims to ensure TikTok’s continued operations in the United States.
In a related development, CNBC reported that the agreement between the two countries will allow Oracle to maintain its existing cloud partnership with TikTok. Oracle’s servers currently store data from TikTok’s American users, a key component of an initiative known as Project Texas, launched by TikTok in 2022.
The market reacted positively to hints of a TikTok deal, with Oracle’s shares spiking as much as 5% in premarket trading on Monday after Trump suggested progress via social media. In a post on Truth Social, he noted that the trade meeting in Europe between the United States and China “has gone VERY WELL!” He alluded to a deal related to a “certain” company that is particularly popular among young people in the U.S.
TikTok faces a potential ban in the U.S. unless it divests ownership to an American or allied country by September 17; however, Trump hinted at the possibility of extending this deadline. In March, Politico reported that the White House was evaluating a proposal from Oracle to manage TikTok, a deal that might still leave parent company ByteDance with some degree of control over the app.
Oracle did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo Finance on Monday. The tech company has forged a close relationship with the Trump administration, particularly in efforts to advance artificial intelligence in the U.S. Notably, Oracle’s chair, Larry Ellison, was present at the Oval Office in January to announce a $500 billion initiative called Stargate, aimed at building AI data centers in the U.S., although the project has encountered delays.
While Oracle is currently the leading candidate to acquire TikTok, other interested parties include a group of investors led by billionaire Frank McCourt Jr., Microsoft, YouTuber Mr. Beast, and Perplexity AI.
Despite the ongoing negotiations, Oracle’s stock has seen considerable success this year, climbing 81%. The recent increase was further fueled by the company’s optimistic projection that its cloud revenue could reach $144 billion by the fiscal year 2030, likely bolstered by a substantial $300 billion deal with OpenAI, which has been well received by Wall Street.
