We recently compiled a list of the 20 Most Profitable Stocks of the Last 20 Years. The third stock on our list is Oracle Corporation. TheFly reported on January 23 that Morgan Stanley lowered its price target for ORCL to $213 from $320 and maintained an Equal Weight rating. The firm acknowledged that GPU-as-a-Service represents a sizable revenue opportunity but noted that the buildout is likely to push EPS below company targets and increase funding needs. Additionally, Morgan Stanley stated that it believ ...

Market Overview - US stock market showed mixed results as investors digested the latest Federal Reserve interest rate decision, with the Dow Jones increasing by 12.19 points (0.02%) to 49,015.60, and the Nasdaq rising by 0.17% to 23,857.45, while the S&P 500 slightly declined by 0.01% to 6,978.03, marking an intraday historical high above 7,000 points [3] Technology Sector Performance - Star tech stocks exhibited divergence, with Nvidia rising by 1.59%, Google by 0.38%, and Microsoft by 0.22%. In contrast, Tesla fell by 0.10%, while Meta, Amazon, and Apple dropped over 0.6%, with Apple down by 0.7% and Oracle down by 1.20% [4][5] - The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index increased by 0.32%, with Alibaba up by 1.70%, NetEase by 1.46%, and Baidu by 0.02%. However, JD.com fell by 0.92% and Pinduoduo dropped by 3.84% [4] Semiconductor Sector Insights - The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by 2.3%, with Intel increasing by 11.04% and Texas Instruments by 9.9%. However, ASML saw a decline of 2.1% despite reporting record net sales of €9.7 billion for Q4 2025, exceeding market expectations [6] - ASML's order volume reached €13.2 billion, double the analysts' average forecast, and the company raised its sales outlook for 2026 to between €34 billion and €39 billion, compared to the analysts' expectation of €35 billion [6] Federal Reserve and Economic Indicators - The Federal Reserve decided to maintain interest rates, citing robust economic expansion and signs of stabilization in the unemployment rate. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated that current monetary policy is not significantly tight [6][7] - The current inflation level is slightly above the Fed's target, while unemployment has risen, creating a contradiction that keeps the Fed's policy stance neutral until data changes necessitate a clear choice [7] Commodity Market Movements - Precious metals saw strong gains, with COMEX gold futures for January delivery rising by 4.36% to $5,301.60 per ounce, and silver futures increasing by 7.19% to $113.11 per ounce [8]

Investor Chamath Palihapitiya highlighted Oracle Corp.’s (NYSE:ORCL) surging credit default swaps, hinting at growing unease in credit markets over the debt-fueled AI infrastructure push. CDS Rates Surge Past COVID-19 Levels On Tuesday, in a post on X, Palihapitiya shared a chart showing Oracle’s CDS had surged to 160 basis points, which reflects the rising annual cost of insuring the company’s debt against default. Palihapitiya just said “gulp” in his post, while pointing out that the company’s CDS spr ...

One of the more surprising moves in the cloud industry has come from Oracle (NYSE: ORCL). The company built its reputation as the leader in relational databases, but it breathed new life into its business when it discovered that its IT infrastructure positioned it to succeed in the cloud business. With that, it has developed a niche for high-performance computing workloads, a competitive advantage that could help it steal market share in 2026, and here's how. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst ...

Core Insights - Oracle (ORCL) shares fell by 0.5% in early trading on Wednesday as the company joined a newly established TikTok U.S. data security joint venture as a managing investor and security partner [1] Group 1 - The joint venture aims to ensure the security of U.S. user data and algorithms [1] - The application will continue to serve approximately 200 million U.S. users [1]

Among the top 10 cyber incidents in 2025 was the first documented case of an AI-orchestrated espionage campaign, which illustrated how artificial intelligence (AI) is being leveraged by sophisticated threat actors, according to Tokio Marine HCC International (TMHCCI), in its sixth consecutive annual cyber incidents report.The report examines 10 of the most significant cyber incidents of 2025, selected for their operational disruption, financial impact and broader implications for the global digital ecosyste ...

Core Insights - The Zacks Equity Research team has highlighted several stocks, including Broadcom Inc., Oracle Corp., Mastercard Inc., Geospace Technologies Corp., and Gencor Industries, Inc., in their Analyst Blog [1][2] Group 1: Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) - Broadcom's shares have outperformed the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry over the past year, with a growth of +62.1% compared to the industry’s +49.5% [4] - The company anticipates first-quarter fiscal 2026 AI revenues to double to $8.2 billion, driven by strong demand for networking products and custom AI accelerators [5] - The acquisition of VMware has positively impacted its infrastructure software solutions, although gross margin is expected to contract sequentially due to high debt levels [6] Group 2: Oracle Corp. (ORCL) - Oracle's shares have outperformed the Zacks Computer - Software industry over the past year, with a growth of +16.4% compared to the industry’s +2.7% [7] - The cloud infrastructure business is experiencing accelerating revenue growth, supported by strategic partnerships and competitive pricing [8] - However, competition from hyperscalers and the transition from license revenue to subscription models may pressure margins and create near-term earnings volatility [9] Group 3: Mastercard Inc. (MA) - Mastercard's shares have declined -3.1% over the past year, while the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry has seen a decline of -16.4% [10] - The company expects adjusted operating expenses to grow at the high end of mid-teens YoY in 2025, driven by increased investments [10] - Despite challenges, acquisitions and collaborations are expanding addressable markets, with net revenues rising 16% YoY in the first nine months of 2025 [11] Group 4: Geospace Technologies Corp. (GEOS) - Geospace Technologies has outperformed the Zacks Electronics - Measuring Instruments industry over the past year, with a growth of +82.7% compared to the industry’s +32.5% [13] - The Smart Water segment is a core growth driver, achieving 10.4% revenue growth in fiscal 2025 due to rising adoption of Hydroconn and Aquana [14] - However, the company faces near-term execution and margin risks, particularly in its Energy Solutions segment [15] Group 5: Gencor Industries, Inc. (GENC) - Gencor Industries' shares have declined -13.6% over the past year, while the Zacks Manufacturing - Thermal Products industry has declined -39% [16] - The company has experienced a sharp backlog decline, reducing near-term visibility, and faces challenges with obsolete inventory reserves and lower R&D spending [16] - Despite these risks, Gencor has a strong balance sheet with $136.3 million in cash and no debt, providing flexibility for future investments [17]

Core Viewpoint - Oracle's increasing cloud capital expenditure is positioning the company for its next growth phase, with a forecasted capital expenditure of around $50 billion for fiscal 2026, reflecting strong demand in AI and enterprise cloud services [2][3]. Group 1: Oracle's Growth Strategy - Oracle invested approximately $12 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, focusing on GPU-based infrastructure and data centers to support Oracle Cloud Infrastructure growth [3]. - The company expects about $4 billion in incremental revenue acceleration starting in fiscal 2027, driven by AI training, inference, and multicloud deployments [4]. - Oracle is adopting a disciplined funding approach through a mix of debt markets and alternative models, such as customer-provided or leased chips, to align revenues with costs [5]. Group 2: Competitive Landscape - Oracle faces competition from Amazon and Alphabet, both of which are heavily investing in data centers and AI infrastructure to enhance their cloud services [6]. - Amazon's capital expenditure in the third quarter of 2025 reached nearly $90 billion, primarily for AWS and AI capacity, reinforcing its cloud leadership [7]. - Alphabet invested about $24 billion in the same period, focusing on servers and data centers to support Google Cloud and AI demand, with a significant backlog of $155 billion [8]. Group 3: Oracle's Stock Performance and Valuation - Oracle's shares have declined by 26.3% over the past six months, underperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector's growth of 14.4% [9][10]. - The current forward 12-month Price/Earnings ratio for Oracle is 23.1x, lower than the industry average of 26.69x, indicating a relatively undervalued position [10]. - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Oracle's fiscal 2026 earnings is $7.42 per share, suggesting a growth of 23.05% compared to fiscal 2025 [11].

Polen Capital Management Llc released its "Polen Focus Growth Strategy" Q4 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In Q4 2025, the Polen Focus Growth strategy delivered a -1.37% gross return, underperforming the Russell 1000 Growth Index (+1.12%) and the S&P 500 (+2.66%), as concentrated mega‑cap leadership and AI valuation concerns drove market volatility. The fund faced headwinds from market rotation and valuation pressures but remained disciplined in its investment approach, fo ...

Investor Chamath Palihapitiya highlighted Oracle Corp.’s (NYSE:ORCL) surging credit default swaps, hinting at growing unease in credit markets over the debt-fueled AI infrastructure push.CDS Rates Surge Past COVID-19 LevelsOn Tuesday, in a post on X, Palihapitiya shared a chart showing Oracle’s CDS had surged to 160 basis points, which reflects the rising annual cost of insuring the company’s debt against default. Palihapitiya just said “gulp” in his post, while pointing out that the company’s CDS spreads h ...