Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Rating, $36.50 PT on Oracle Corporation

In a report published Wednesday, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Overweight rating and $36.50 price target on Oracle Corporation

. Piper Jaffray noted, “Consistent with our preview in which resellers were half a percent above plan, ORCL's Q2 revenue beat consensus by almost 1% while the strength in the overall applications business, which grew low double digits organically, also fits in with our deep dive checks highlighting Oracle's potential ability to remain a leader in its application markets despite disruptive technology entrants. The strong sequential Exadata unit bookings growth of 70% also mirrored our preview. The only area of disappointment was the hardware business which declined 23% y/y, not surprising based on our reseller feedback, although management clearly outlined that the hardware business could exhibit top line growth by Q4. With software growing double digits, even in Europe, we believe stabilization of the hardware business would put an end to the drag on the overall growth of the company and might trigger future multiple expansion. Reiterate OW.” Oracle Corporation closed on Tuesday at $32.88.