Oracle (ORCL) ended the recent trading session at $163.85, demonstrating a +1.2% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.56%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.58%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.51%.
Heading into today, shares of the software maker had gained 15% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 11.21% and the S&P 500's gain of 7.37% in that time.
The upcoming earnings release of Oracle will be of great interest to investors. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.64, up 0.61% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $15.54 billion, up 8.8% from the year-ago period.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.03 per share and a revenue of $57.04 billion, representing changes of +8.45% and +7.7%, respectively, from the prior year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Oracle. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, Oracle boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, Oracle is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 26.83. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 27.38 for its industry.
Also, we should mention that ORCL has a PEG ratio of 2.78. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Computer - Software industry stood at 2.44 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, placing it within the top 30% of over 250 industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Oracle Corporation (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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