Is Wall Street Giving Oracle Enough Credit for Future Growth?

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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Is Wall Street Giving Oracle Enough Credit for Future Growth?

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Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) reported its most recent quarterly results after markets closed Wednesday. Ultimately this was a record quarter for the firm with its shares hitting an all-time high in Thursday’s session. As a result, analysts were quick to hop on this train.

24/7 Wall St. has included some highlights from its earnings report as well as what analysts are saying after the fact.

The firm said that it had $1.16 in earnings per share (EPS) and $11.14 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that called for $1.07 in EPS and $10.95 billion in revenue. The fiscal second quarter from last year had $0.99 in EPS and $11.26 billion in revenue.

Total quarterly revenues increased by 1% and by 4% in constant currency compared to the same period last year. Cloud services and license support revenues totaled $6.8 billion, while cloud license and on-premise license revenues were $2.5 billion. Total cloud services and license support plus cloud license and on-premise license revenues were $9.3 billion, up 3% in U.S. dollars and 6% in constant currency.

At the same time, short-term deferred revenues were $8.4 billion. Operating cash flow for fiscal 2019 was $14.6 billion.

[nativounit]

Merrill Lynch reiterated a neutral rating for the stock, but raised its price objective to $60 from $57. The brokerage firm detailed in its report:

Autonomous DB [database] encouraging, but still waiting for SaaS [Software as a service] … we would have liked to see better performance in cloud services and license support, which continued to decelerate to 3% year over year in constant currency, implying sustained flat/deceleration in cloud SaaS/PaaS/IaaS and/or maintenance. Moreover, total we believe revs would need to accelerate to mid-high single digits for the stock to rerate – 5-6% organic software rev growth will require SaaS/PaaS/IaaS growth of 35-40% (from SaaS at 15-20%; PaaS/IaaS at low 20s today), which will be challenging.

Wedbush Securities maintained its neutral rating, but raised its prior $52 target price to $55. The firm said that it is remaining on the sidelines as it doesn’t see an inflection point in its infrastructure or cloud positions.

Other analysts weighed in saying:

  • Raymond James reiterated an outperform rating and raised its price target to $61 from $57.
  • RBC Capital Markets reiterated a sector perform rating and raised its price target to $59 from $57.
  • Wells Fargo reiterated an outperform rating and raised its price target to $65 from $60.
  • Barclays reiterated an equal weight and raised its price target to $59 from $55.
  • Jefferies reiterated a buy rating and raised its price target to $66 from $61.

Overall, Oracle shares have more or less performed in line with the broad markets with the stock up nearly 17% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock is up closer to 13%.

Shares of Oracle were last seen up nearly 8% at $56.79, with a 52-week range of $42.40 to $57.24. The consensus price target is $53.41.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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