NetSuite Drives Oracle’s Momentum Amid Growing Data Quality Tradeoffs

I’ve been following NetSuite closely, not just because it’s a widely used ERP platform for modern finance teams, but because its recent momentum reinforces a broader point I’ve been making: robust ERP systems and clean, connected data are essential to unlocking strategic AI value. As AI adoption accelerates, companies face an increasingly important tradeoff: choosing tools with the best standalone features vs. building a unified tech stack that prioritizes data quality and integration.

NetSuite Hits $1 Billion in Quarterly Revenue

Netsuite is becoming a key driver of Oracle’s broader cloud strategy. Based on Oracle’s latest earnings analyzed by Zacks Equity Research NetSuite’s role is "critical" to Oracle's SAAS portfolio.

In Oracle’s last fiscal quarter, NetSuite’s revenue rose 18% year over year, hitting $1 billion, a milestone that underlines just how far this mid-market cloud ERP product has come. It’s Oracle’s SaaS workhorse, particularly attractive to mid-sized businesses looking for an AI-enabled ERP that isn’t as heavy or complex as Oracle Fusion.

What’s powering this growth?

• Multi-tenant AI infrastructure: NetSuite now comes embedded with over AI agents — part of Oracle’s broader push toward “agentic AI.” In addition we recently covered Netsuite announcement of MCP based agnostic AI Connector Service.

• Real-time automation: Finance, accounting, operations — all powered through automated workflows and embedded insights.

• Higher renewals and bookings: Signs that customers are sticking around, not just testing the waters.

Why AI (and Cloud) Are the Real Story

Traditional, on-prem ERP systems can’t fully leverage the types of AI features Oracle is now building into NetSuite (like AgentX and others). This gives Oracle a huge incentive to move its install base into the cloud — and NetSuite is a big part of that strategy, especially for companies too small for Fusion but too complex for QuickBooks.

In fact, Oracle is projecting cloud revenue growth of over 40% in fiscal 2026, with infrastructure up 70% and overall cloud revenues expected to reach $31.6B.

That’s aggressive — but the pivot to AI-enhanced SaaS gives it a plausible path.

But the ERP War Isn’t Over

Oracle’s momentum is strong, but the competition is just as fierce:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 continues to grow thanks to its deep integration into the Microsoft ecosystem. The user-friendly interface, bundled pricing with Microsoft 365, and fast-improving Copilot AI features make it a favorite for companies already tied into Azure.

• SAP still leads in global ERP market share (17% vs. Oracle’s smaller share), with a powerful mix of vertical specialization and a strong partner ecosystem. Its shift toward cloud is paying off, especially as more large enterprises lean into AI-enabled transformation.

Both rivals bring cost, customization, and legacy advantages that NetSuite needs to continuously counter.

What About the Stock?

Oracle stock (ORCL) is up 33.8% year-to-date, beating the broader tech sector and it also holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), meaning it’s not currently one of their top picks (which would have been a "buy").

Still, if Oracle hits its fiscal 2026 estimates of $66.6B in revenue and $6.73 EPS, it will show strong double-digit growth — not bad for a company long seen as more of a legacy player.

The CFO AI take:

There’s a growing tradeoff businesses face in the AI era: choosing between best-in-class point solutions for each function versus adopting a centralized platform like NetSuite — or other “jack-of-all-trades” ERPs — that can unify data and workflows. While specialized apps often ship faster feature-level AI improvements, they create fragmented data environments, stitched together with APIs, manual workarounds, and inconsistent formats. That patchwork can limit a company’s ability to generate high-quality, organization-wide AI insights.

NetSuite and ERPs like it offer something different: they may not always have the flashiest features, but they act as a connective tissue for the business, enabling consistent, structured data across finance, sales, operations, and more. For companies looking to move beyond isolated AI use cases and toward strategic AI capabilities — scenario planning, real-time forecasting, intelligent automation — that data foundation could be the real unlock.