Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Oracle Corp., SAP AG, Sun Microsystems, International Business Machines Corporation and Microsoft Corporation

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 21, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Oracle Corp. (ORCL - Analyst Report), SAP AG (SAP - Analyst Report), Sun Microsystems (JAVA), International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Analyst Report) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Analyst Report).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Oracle Impresses the Market

Oracle Corp. (ORCL - Analyst Report) rose 4.02% after market yesterday following the company’s second-quarter of fiscal 2010 earnings announcement.

The market reacted positively to the company’s better-than-expected earnings and growing market share. The company said that for the fourth consecutive quarter, it captured market share from SAP AG (SAP - Analyst Report). Moreover, positive expectations regarding the European Commission’s approval of the $7.4 billion Sun Microsystems (JAVA) acquisition in January also boosted the company’s share price.

For the third quarter, Oracle expects earnings to range between 26 and 28 cents a share, with non-GAAP earnings per share ranging between 36 and 38 cents a share. This surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 35 cents.

Total revenue is expected to rise between 3% and 6% in the third quarter, at the current exchange rates. The guidance assumes a non-GAAP tax rate of 28% versus 26.6% last year. The guidance does not include the impact of the Sun acquisition. Upon closing, the acquisition is expected to contribute $1.5 billion in non-GAAP operating income.

Oracle’s results and guidance demonstrate that enterprise spending is on the mend. We are highly positive on the company’s longer term growth prospects and believe that the Sun acquisition will further boost shares. We believe the investors will benefit from the company’s growing software business over the long term.

However, competition is expected to remain intense, as Oracle has strong competitors in the form of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Analyst Report) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Analyst Report).

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Read the full analyst report on ORCL

Read the full analyst report on SAP

Read the full analyst report on JAVA

Read the full analyst report on IBM

Read the full analyst report on MSFT