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Tech ETFs to Tap Oracle Earnings Beat & Cloud Boom

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After being stressed over the past five years, software giant Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) has finally heaved a sigh of relief this reporting cycle. The company reported stellar third-quarter fiscal 2017 numbers on a fast-growing cloud computing business. It topped our estimates on both earnings and revenues for the first time since November 2014 and offered an upbeat guidance (read: Is ORCL A Top Tech Stock?).

Further, Oracle boosted its quarterly dividend by 27% to 19 cents per share. The huge divided hike will definitely attract new income-oriented investors.

Oracle Q3 Earnings in Focus

Earnings per share came in at 63 cents (accounting for stock-based compensation), six cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues increased 3% year over year to $9.27 billion and were above our $9.24 billion estimate.

The company’s long process of shifting to the Web-based cloud computing business is now paying off more than offsetting the decline in legacy business. Cloud software platform sales climbed 73% from the year-ago quarter to $1 billion and accounted for 11% of total revenue. Notably, Oracle is selling more cloud software platforms than any other company in the world and has grown three times faster over the past one year, providing it an edge over the software ace Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM - Free Report) . This indicates super-fast growth in cloud computing business.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, the world’s largest database software maker expects revenues to be down 1% to up 2% in constant currency and earnings per share between 78 cents and 82 cents. The lower end of the earnings guidance is well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 73 cents, reflecting some optimism in the company’s future growth.

Impressed by the solid cloud computing growth, most analysts revised their target price upward while a few analysts upgraded the stock. This move swept away negative sentiments related to the software maker and left many feeling bullish on the stock’s future (see: all the Technology ETFs here).

ORCL shares climbed as much as 9% on Thursday’s trading session to a new high of $46.99 per share since December 2014 on an elevated volume of five times more than the normal trading day. Investors should note that Oracle has underperformed over the past one year, rising just 10.3% compared with the gain of 20.1% for the Zacks Computer Software Industry. As such, Oracle looks cheap at the current levels with P/E ratio of 18.24 versus the industry average of 25.62. This might suggest a good time for investors’ to build positions in the stock.

Currently, the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a solid Industry Rank in the top 38%. However, the Value and Growth Style Score is unimpressive at C and F, respectively

ETFs to Buy

Given this, ETFs with the highest allocation to this software giant look to be big movers this week and in the next. Investors should closely monitor the movement in these funds and grab any opportunity from a surge in the price of ORCL:

iShares North American Tech-Software ETF (IGV - Free Report)

This ETF provides exposure to the software segment of the broader U.S. technology space by tracking the S&P North American Technology-Software Index. The fund holds a basket of 56 securities with Oracle taking the third spot at 8.1% of total assets. It is quite popular with AUM of $761.9 million while volume is moderate as it exchanges nearly 171,000 shares a day. The product charges 48 bps in annual fees and has added 0.5% following Oracle results. IGV has a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 with a High risk outlook (read: Technology ETFs Hitting All-Time High).

First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund (TDIV - Free Report)

This fund provides exposure to dividend payers within the technology sector by tracking the Nasdaq Technology Dividend Index. The product has amassed about $684.3 million in its asset base while trades in volume of around 99,000 shares per day. The ETF charges 50 bps in annual fees. In total, the fund holds about 94 securities in its basket. Of these firms, ORCL takes the sixth position, making up roughly 3.9% of the assets. In terms of industrial exposure, the fund is widely spread out across semiconductor and semiconductor equipment, technology hardware, storage & peripherals, software and diversified telecommunication services. The fund added 0.4% on the day.

John Hancock Multifactor Technology ETF

This fund focuses on the time-tested multifactor approach that emphasizes factors (smaller cap, lower relative price, and higher profitability) that academic research has linked to higher expected return. It follows the John Hancock Dimensional Technology Index, holding 119 stocks. Out of these, Microsoft takes the seventh spot with 3.2% allocation. Software and semiconductors make up for the top two sectors in the fund’s portfolio with over 24% share each while Internet software & services, and technology hardware, storage & peripherals round off the next two spots. The fund has accumulated $41.1 million in AUM while charging 50 bps in fees per year. Volume is light at under 6000 shares a day. JHMT was up 0.2% on the day and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 or’ Buy’ rating with a High risk outlook.

iShares Dow Jones US Technology ETF (IYW - Free Report)

This ETF tracks the Dow Jones US Technology Index, giving investors exposure to 137 technology stocks. The fund has AUM of $3.3 billion while charging 44 bps in fees and expenses. Volume is good as it exchanges nearly 276,000 shares in hand a day. Oracle occupies the ninth position in the basket with 3% of assets. In terms of industrial exposure, software and services makes up for 52.7% share, followed by technology hardware & equipment (28.4%). The fund gained 0.3% following upbeat ORCL results and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 with a Medium risk outlook (read: 4 ETFs to Profit Out of Cash Kings).

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