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On Thursday, KeyBanc Capital Markets sustained its Overweight rating on Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares, with a price target of $200.00. The software giant, currently commanding a market capitalization of $409 billion, has demonstrated strong momentum with a 16.8% return over the past year. According to InvestingPro data, Oracle maintains robust profit margins, with a gross profit margin of 71.1% in the last twelve months. Analysts at KeyBanc expressed a reinforced positive outlook on Oracle’s cloud infrastructure business after attending an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) event.
At the event held near Salt Lake City, the analysts observed firsthand the robustness and adaptability of Oracle’s OCI strategy. They highlighted that Oracle’s focus on AI at the hyperscale level is expected to have more enduring compute demands. This strategic direction appears well-supported by Oracle’s financial strength, with InvestingPro reporting annual revenue of $55.8 billion and a steady revenue growth rate of 6.2% in the last twelve months. This perspective comes as a reassurance amid concerns that AI model training could either shift to lower value hardware or experience a slowdown over time. Additionally, there were worries that the computational intensity for AI inference might not meet expectations, particularly as large cloud service providers are heavily investing in their infrastructures.
The KeyBanc team noted that Oracle’s strategy to concentrate on the more immediate and significant needs of the market, rather than the less certain long-term demands, provides some assurance of sustained investment in their services. Moreover, the flexibility observed in Oracle’s data centers was greater than previously anticipated by the analysts, suggesting that the exact nature of future hardware requirements may be less critical due to the adaptability of the infrastructure.
Oracle’s commitment to AI and the strategic positioning of its cloud services at the forefront of the technology ecosystem were key takeaways from the OCI Day event. According to KeyBanc, the company’s belief in the lasting nature of AI spending at the leading edge of the model ecosystem is a significant factor in maintaining the Overweight rating and price target.
This endorsement from KeyBanc follows Oracle’s continuous efforts to expand and improve its cloud offerings, aiming to meet the evolving demands of the hyperscale computing market. Oracle’s stock price target remains unchanged at $200.00, reflecting the firm’s confidence in the company’s strategic direction and potential for growth. InvestingPro analysis reveals that Oracle currently trades at relatively high multiples, with a P/E ratio of 33.2 and an EV/EBITDA of 21.9, suggesting premium market valuation. Subscribers to InvestingPro can access over 10 additional exclusive ProTips and a comprehensive Pro Research Report, offering deeper insights into Oracle’s valuation and growth prospects.
In other recent news, Oracle Corporation has reported a cybersecurity breach, marking the second such incident within a month. The breach involved the theft of client log-in credentials from a legacy system, prompting an FBI investigation. Oracle assured clients that the compromised system had not been in use for eight years, although some data reportedly dates back to 2024. Meanwhile, Oracle’s involvement in a potential buyout of TikTok’s US operations has been highlighted, with Andreessen Horowitz and other US investors considering a bid to acquire TikTok from ByteDance. This move aims to address regulatory concerns and prevent a potential ban of the app in the United States.
In a separate development, the US Department of Defense has decided to terminate its plan to use Oracle’s software for managing its civilian workforce, citing inefficiencies and cost overruns. This decision is part of the Pentagon’s broader efforts to streamline operations and reduce budget excesses. On the analyst front, Bernstein has maintained an Outperform rating for Oracle, citing growth potential in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Enterprise Resource Planning. Guggenheim also reiterated its Buy rating, highlighting Oracle’s competitive edge in AI training workloads and setting a price target of $220. These recent developments provide a comprehensive view of Oracle’s current market activities and strategic direction.
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