Analysts at EdwardJones upgraded Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) to a Buy rating from a Hold earlier today, as they believe "the company's transition from licensing its products to providing them on a subscription basis in the cloud will drive accelerated sales growth for the company."
In their latest note on the technology giant, the analysts admit that Oracle has been "slower than peers to embrace the cloud," but expect that "management's more aggressive pivot toward the cloud," coupled with the huge Total Addressable Market of "$1T," provide for an "ample opportunity for the company to succeed."
They point out that ORCL remains in early stages of "transitioning its own customer base to the cloud," and, given that customers who move to cloud tend to spend "four to five times more on services from the company," see a major opportunity for Oracle to monetize their existing clients in years to come.
Additionally, the analysts also see room for improvement in the company's operations and overall profitability "as the recent acquisition of Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) is fully integrated into the company and the overall cost structure is reduced."
As such, they believe "the strong sales growth opportunity paired with the potential for profit-margin improvement present a compelling long-term investment."
"With shares trading at a discount to peers, we do not believe the stock reflects our optimism," conclude the analysts, as they upgrade the shares to a Buy rating from a Hold.