For most investors, how much a stock’s price changes over time is important. This factor can impact your investment portfolio as well as help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you’d invested in Oracle (ORCL) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to ORCL for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Oracle’s Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Oracle’s main business drivers.
Oracle Corporation is one of the largest enterprise-grade database, middleware, and application software providers.
Oracle has expanded its cloud computing operations over the last couple of years. The company offers cloud solutions and services that can be used to build and manage various cloud deployment models.
Built upon open industry standards such as SQL, Java and HTML5, Oracle Cloud provides access to application services, platform services and infrastructure services for a subscription. Through its Oracle Enterprise Manager offering, the company manages cloud environments.
Redwood City, CA-based Oracle’s software and hardware products and services include Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Java and Oracle Engineered Systems. Oracle Engineered Systems include Exadata Database Machine, Exalogic Elastic Cloud, Exalytics In-Memory Machine, SPARC SuperCluster, Virtual Compute Alliance, Oracle Database Appliance, Oracle Big Data Appliance and ZFS Storage.
With the acquisition of Sun Microsystems in Jan 2010, Oracle began selling hardware products and services, primarily comprising computer server and storage products.
Oracle reported revenues of $50 billion in fiscal 2023. The company reports its new software licenses under its new Cloud license and on-premise license segment. Further, the company merged its Cloud SaaS, Cloud PaaS and IaaS along with its software license updates and product support into Cloud services and license support.
Total Cloud services and license support revenues came in at $35.31 billion in fiscal 2023. Total cloud license and on-premise license came in at $5.78 billion in fiscal 2023.
Oracle faces significant competition in most of its operational markets (database, applications, storage, cloud computing) from the likes of Dell, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, SAP, salesforce.com, Workday and Teradata.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Oracle a decade ago, you’re probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in March 2014 would be worth $3,338.56, or a gain of 233.86%, as of March 15, 2024, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.
The S&P 500 rose 179.75% and the price of gold increased 50.53% over the same time frame in comparison.
Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for ORCL.
Oracle’s third-quarter fiscal 2023 results benefited from the steady adoption of strategic cloud applications, autonomous database and OCI, as well as a recovery in cloud revenue growth. Its Gen 2 Cloud is driving artificial intelligence (AI) clientele because of better performance at a lower cost due to high bandwidth and low-latency RDMA networks. ORCL’s continued investment in cloud infrastructure positions it well for sustained growth in the dynamic software industry. Its share buybacks and dividend policy are noteworthy. Oracle shares have outperformed the industry in the year-to-date period. However, the uncertain economy and competition in the cloud computing market weighed on demand for its cloud offerings. Stiff competition in the cloud market is slowing down the growth of its expansion efforts in the competitive market.
The stock has jumped 11.31% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 10 higher, for fiscal 2024; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
