Analysts Laud Oracle's Q2 Beat, $10B Share Buyback

Analysts celebrated Oracle Corp's ORCL Q2 beat, dividend, and $10 billion share buyback approval by raising their price targets on the stock.

• Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin raised the price target to $100 from $80 (12.7% upside) and kept a Neutral. 
• The company's Q2 revenue growth improved to 6% ex-currency from 2% last quarter, exceeding Street estimates by $156M and reaching the highest constant currency growth in four years, Bracelin tells. 
• Despite improving cloud tailwinds, the post-earnings rally to the mid-$90s "fairly prices in improving momentum" at Oracle, says the analyst.
• Citi analyst Tyler Radke raised the price target to $100 from $89 and kept a Neutral. 
• The company last night "delivered a clean beat/raise," with a modest reacceleration in both cloud and total revenue, Radke tells. 
• The analyst says accelerated revenue growth is now in the numbers, tougher comps are ahead, and Oracle's valuation is at a premium versus peers.
• Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick upgraded to Buy from Hold with a price target of $120, up from $110 (35.2% upside). 
• The analyst views the company's fiscal Q2 results as "confirmatory" and says "multiple indicators" point to further acceleration ahead. 
• He believes Oracle's "aggressive" capital allocation is a "reliable forward indicator" and says the company is finally seeing an ongoing positive mix shift drive an inflection in financials.
• Societe Generale analyst Richard Nguyen raised the price target to $103 from $88 (16% upside) and kept a Hold. 
• The company's Q2 earnings topped consensus on all key metrics with a very positive message on cloud prospects, Nguyen says.
• Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow raised the price target to $91 from $87 (2.5% upside) and kept an Equal Weight.
• The analyst believes Oracle's multiple will continue to be elevated after the company "finally delivered on the promised growth acceleration" in last night's fiscal Q2. 
• However, Lenschow is "not sure that ORCL will necessary become a consensus long overnight."
• UBS analyst Karl Keirstead raised the price target to $94 from $86 (5.9% upside) but kept a Neutral. 
• The analyst notes that the entire beat came from on-premise license revenues. Given the surprise regarding the demand for Oracle database and middleware products, Keirstead contends that there may have been some "unusual" pull-forward in that spending.
• Price Action: ORCL shares traded higher by 11.9% at $99.32 in the premarket session on the last check Friday.