Oracle, which reported its fiscal first-quarter results after market close on Monday, is luring cloud customers away from Amazon Web Services, according to Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison.
Speaking during a conference call on Monday, Ellison said the software giant has been talking to some of Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN, -5.79% “most famous brands” that are running at Amazon Web Services.
The customers, he added, can save a “huge amount of money” by moving to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Ellison added that, in the next quarter, Oracle Corp. ORCL, -0.61% will be announcing some companies moving off Amazon to OCI “that will shock you.”
Amazon has not yet responded to a request for comment from MarketWatch on Ellison’s comments.
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“Oracle highlighted OCI’s cost differential, speed, and flexibility as the primary factors for companies considering a move of workloads to OCI,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Mark R. Murphy, in a note released on Tuesday.
The analyst also highlighted the robust demand environment for Oracle’s products. “Noticeably absent from the earnings call was commentary calling out lengthening deal cycles or increased scrutiny as a result of the macro environment,” wrote Murphy. “While not impervious to declining macro conditions, Oracle noted that it is still seeing robust demand and not experiencing the lengthening sales cycle and increased deal scrutiny that most software companies have faced recently.”
JP Morgan has an $84 target and overweight rating for Oracle.
Oracle did feel the impact of a strengthening dollar in its fiscal first-quarter, as the company delivered lower-than-expected profit and guidance.
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Nonetheless, Oracle posted solid results and provided an upbeat outlook, according to Stifel analyst Brad R. Reback.
“The 23% [year-over-year (YY)/constant currency (CC)] growth beat the high end of guidance (22% Y/Y-CC) by ~$200M, driven by the newly acquired Cerner business, which contributed 15% Y/Y-CC and $1.4 [billion] to revenue growth, as well as better than expected results in the Application and Infrastructure segments, with organic growth of 12% and 7%, respectively,” he wrote, in a note released on Tuesday. “During the call, management took a positive tone regarding the company’s ability to sustain its recent organic momentum, indicating its Cloud business should ‘accelerate substantially’ and grow 30%+ CC in FY23.”
Stifel has a $72 price target and hold rating for Oracle.
Oracle’s stock surged 2.7% in morning trading Tuesday, to buck the selloff in the broader stock market after disappointing consumer inflation data. The stock has run up 23.6% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 index SPX, -3.04% has gained 7.1%.
Of 38 analysts surveyed by FactSet, 18 have an overweight or buy rating for Oracle, 16 have a hold rating and four have an underweight or sell rating.