Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) stock is 12.5% higher to trade at $168.09 at last check, after the software giant reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $1.79 on revenue $17.19 billion, both of which easily beat expectations. The company also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to $90 billion amid cloud strength, and unveiled plans to raise as much as $50 billion to expand its cloud infrastructure capacity.
In response, J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded shares to "overweight" from neutral. Seven more brokerages issued price-target hikes, the highest coming from Bernstein to $319 from $312. Coming into today, 31 of 41 analysts carried a "strong buy" rating, while ORCL's 12-month consensus target price of $255.28 sits at a 52% premium to current levels.
Oracle stock is looking to snap a three-day losing streak with its biggest single-day percentage gain since September. The shares are also on track to clear their 50-day moving average on a closing basis for the first time since late October. Over the last six months, shares have shed over 48%.
Options traders are buying in. At last check, 345,000 calls and 160,000 puts have crossed the tape today, which is six times the volume typically seen at this point. The most popular contract is the weekly 3/13 170-strike call, with new positions being bought to open.
