Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL)

fstg experiment

M* Ultimate Stockpickers

Oracle (ORCL) is a best-in-breed leader in its industry. Based on a sales growth forecast of 9-10%, profitability continuing at 30-32% and a projected average P/E of 14x ... the return forecast (projected annual return) is 13%. ORCL has a quality ranking of 97 (Excellent).

S&P Capital IQ Platinum Portfolio

Failure to execute.
On a personal note I know an Oracle hardware sales guy, the execs do not understand enterprise sales cycle for hardware. People buy the hardware they Need you cannot cram it down their throats. Debacle could not happen to a more deserving bunch, blame the sales force Safra... And get what U deserve. They have the trifecta of obnoxious execs with Safra, Ellison, and Hurd. Karma

Oracle holds a number of distinct competitive competencies. First of all, Oracle has an uncanny ability to continue to innovate and push new and better IT solutions products on the market. These products range from database management to hardware solutions to consulting and customer service segments as well as business applications and e-commerce technologies. In its strong diversification and continued innovation, Oracle holds a serious anchor position in the industry as it goes forward.

In addition, Oracle has been able to effectively integrate the important components of companies that it has acquired without depreciating the corporate character of Oracle itself (this is definitely something that Hewlett-Packard could stand to educate itself on from Oracle). Oracle does this by either operating acquired firms as subsidiaries with devoted permanent teams or by fully integrating the firms’ technology solutions and strategy into Oracle’s technology and strategy. This is something that is even very hard for firms with strong management skills.

In terms of resources, Oracle has a few key resources that have been very valuable to them. First and foremost amongst them has been its strong employee knowledge and ability. Without these knowledge workers, Oracle would not have been able to continue to develop its innovative products and continue to find ways to aggressively market them to new customer segments.

Another very important resource is Oracle’s cash hoard. Oracle has a huge amount of cash on hand that has allowed it to weather downturns in the industry, take significant risks, and acquire interesting competitive firms. In doing so, Oracle has been able to diversify heavily as well as mitigate competitive pressures.

Also, Oracle’s strong CEO needs to be considered a resource. Ellison is a strong figure in Oracle and he has largely piloted the company through the decades to become one of the most successful technology firms in America. Through his willingness to take risks and his foresight for the future developments in his sphere, Oracle has flourished as it has been able to adapt and change of technology.

Finally, Oracle has an extremely strong customer list. They hold the business of the top 100 Fortune firms which account for approximately $13 billion of revenue alone. Due to the high switching costs as well as Oracle’s superior products, Oracle has been able to maintain these high-value customers with relative ease.

In terms of opportunities, Oracle has a few major sources of opportunity going forward. First of all, the level of internet use in the world is only increasing and a rapid rate at that. For example, the number of users increased some 1,000% increase in ten of the top twenty internet-using countries between 2000 and 2010. In considering that Oracle is continuing to expand into internet-based technologies, it should seem apparent that this means that Oracle’s customer base is going to continue to expand as well as the importance of its business solutions.

Going along with this, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems. In doing so, Oracle gained hardware exposure and new customer segments. As the use of the internet goes up, there are going to be even more customers investing in the types of hardware that Oracle deals in. For example, governments, universities, and new businesses will all be investing in hardware in order to access the internet. In conjunction with this, Oracle’s increasing focus on software as a service solutions has provided to provide licensing revenues as well as hardware revenues to Oracle.

mgr

Bargain price PE 12, edge in customization techniques.

ORCL is undervalued right now and tends to get beaten up by even good news.

A cloud computing giant that is currently not getting the respect it deserves.

very stable company

valuation

Oracle finally is understanding cloud computing. With its marketing clout and abilities in servers it should do well at stealing market share from HPQ.
Still, I wish LE would retire....

excellent earnings growth around 20%, normalized PE 20.5, looks like a bargain for a lone term hold

Z-3

I think it's better this way. The company perform well in software business and that's good for all patrons.

Oracle is a big business necessity.

10x FCF for the premier database software company in the world? Gimme!

Many patents and nice techs that will take advanage just when it finish to drop his current business model.