Oracle Corp. (ORCL) delivered a tale of two quarters when it reported fiscal 2026 second-quarter results after Wednesday's close. The software giant beat on earnings but missed on revenue, and analysts responded by taking their machetes to price targets.
The numbers tell an interesting story. Revenue came in at $16.06 billion, falling short of the $16.21 billion analysts were expecting. But adjusted earnings told a different story entirely, surging 54% year-over-year to $2.26 per share and crushing the $1.64 consensus estimate. That's a pretty impressive earnings beat, which makes the revenue miss sting a bit more.
CEO Mike Sicilia pointed to what's clearly working. "We are committed to Cloud Neutrality because we believe that our customers should be able to run their Oracle databases in any cloud they choose. That strategy is definitely paying off. Our Multicloud database business is our fastest-growing business — up 817% in Q2," he said. An 817% growth rate doesn't come around every quarter, and it shows Oracle's strategy of playing nice with everyone is resonating with customers.
The market's reaction? A collective shrug. Oracle shares dipped just 0.1% to close at $223.01 on Thursday.
Wall Street analysts maintained their bullish stances but got considerably more realistic about price targets. Here's how the downgrades shook out:
- Piper Sandler analyst Hannah Rudoff kept her Overweight rating but chopped the price target from $380 down to $290.
- B of A Securities analyst Brad Sills stayed at Buy but reduced his target from $368 to $300.
- BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman maintained his Outperform rating while lowering the target from $355 to $270.
- Bernstein analyst Mark L. Moerdler kept his Outperform rating and moved his target from $364 to $339.
Notice a pattern? Every single analyst maintained their positive rating while slashing price targets. That suggests the long-term story remains intact, but expectations needed a reset. When you're trading at $223 and analysts are still setting targets between $270 and $300, there's still implied upside even after the cuts.
