Voices From The Street On Oracle's Upcoming Q1; Marc Benioff Calls NetSuite Acquisition 'Desperation Move'

Oracle Corporation ORCL is set to release its Q1 results, generally the company's slowest quarter, on September 15 after the market closes.

Oracle said in July it will pay $9.3 billion to acquire NetSuite Inc N, one of the first cloud-services companies.

Salesforce.com, inc. CRM CEO Marc Benioff chimed in about the deal Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

"Oracle's making a desperation move," said Benioff.

Related Link: HP Inc Lands On A New Cloud, Partners With Microsoft

Voices From The Street

Wall Street is looking for Oracle to report adjusted earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $8.7 billion.

"We are expecting Oracle to report a relatively in-line quarter with continued momentum in cloud SaaS & PaaS aided by the new Accelerated Buying Experience for ease of purchasing," said Macquarie Research.

Macquarie Research has an Outperform rating on Oracle with a $48 price target.

JPMorgan's earnings preview/channel check update had the company "cautiously optimistic" on Oracle. "Our checks reveal a sequential deterioration in pace of business. On average, Oracle partners were 1.8 percent below plan, which is within a normal range for Q1," said the investment bank.

JPMorgan is Neutral on oracle with a price target of $41.

UBS said the bar is low on Oracle headed in Q1 and expects to see in-line revenues reported heading into earnings. "Improved Cloud messaging have counter-balanced mixed sentiment on underlying fundamentals," said UBS.

UBS has a Buy rating on Oracle with a $44 price target.

Drexel Hamilton also has positive sentiment regarding Oracle and is looking for cloud to turn sales and profit cycle positive.

"In our view, the worst of this cloud transition is behind Oracle and our model indicates the company can finally return to growth."

Drexel Hamilton has a Buy rating on Oracle with a price target of $51.

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