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Oracle (ORCL) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) closed at $56.55 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.28% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.75%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.69%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.32%.

Coming into today, shares of the software maker had gained 3.93% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 5.59%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.42%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from ORCL as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect ORCL to post earnings of $0.88 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 10%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $9.63 billion, up 0.65% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.88 per share and revenue of $40.07 billion. These totals would mark changes of +10.23% and +1.38%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ORCL. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.51% lower within the past month. ORCL is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Investors should also note ORCL's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 14.51. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 31.19, so we one might conclude that ORCL is trading at a discount comparatively.

Investors should also note that ORCL has a PEG ratio of 1.49 right now. 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. ORCL's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.34 as of yesterday's close.

The Computer - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 76, putting it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow ORCL in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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