Oracle's stock surged 11% on Tuesday following a strong earnings report, continuing its upward momentum on Wednesday with a closing price of $157.10, a record high. This year, Oracle's shares have risen by 49%, making it the second-best performer among large-cap tech stocks, trailing only Nvidia, which is up 136%. In contrast, other legacy tech companies Intel and Cisco have seen a 60% and a 3% decline respectively.
The company’s growth has been largely driven by its cloud business, which saw a 45% revenue increase in the latest quarter, reaching $2.2 billion. Overall revenue grew by 8% to $13.31 billion, with projected growth between 8% and 10% for the next period. Despite years of single-digit growth, Oracle is now re-entering double-digit revenue increases, as highlighted by the 18% growth in fiscal 2023. Analysts have upgraded Oracle's stock to buy, citing confidence in its earnings per share (EPS) and sustained growth.
Founder Larry Ellison, who owns over 40% of Oracle’s stock, has benefited significantly, with his net worth climbing to $192 billion. Oracle is strengthening its position in the cloud market through partnerships with major players like AWS, Microsoft, and Google. These collaborations aim to accelerate the growth of Oracle’s database business.
What Does This Mean for Me?
Oracle’s CloudWorld conference, currently underway in Las Vegas, has further fueled investor confidence in the company's cloud strategy. While still trailing Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in cloud infrastructure market share, Oracle’s progress, particularly in its infrastructure and database sectors, has positioned it as a key player in the evolving tech landscape.