Oracle, the brainchild of Larry Ellison, has been making headlines as a Wall Street darling, defying the struggles faced by fellow legacy tech giants like Intel and Cisco in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-driven technology. Following a robust earnings report, Oracle’s stock experienced an impressive surge, gaining 11% and closing at a record high of $157.10. The company’s cloud businesses have been the driving force behind its success, with three consecutive quarters of double-digit gains in stark contrast to the previous years of lackluster performance. Guggenheim analysts have underlined the remarkable “momentum across all business” as the key to Oracle’s resurgence, propelling its shares up by 49% this year alone.
At the heart of Oracle’s meteoric rise lies its enigmatic founder, Larry Ellison, who retains over 40% of the company’s outstanding stock. Ellison’s net worth has ballooned to an astonishing $192 billion, trailing only behind tech titans Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Despite Oracle’s modest revenue growth of 8% in the latest quarter, Ellison’s strategic vision and unwavering commitment have garnered him immense financial rewards.
Oracle’s revenue growth projections remain steady, with CEO Safra Catz predicting an 8-10% growth rate for the upcoming period. However, Oracle’s historical revenue growth has been lackluster, with only one year of double-digit growth since 2011. Nevertheless, optimism abounds among analysts, with JMP analysts upgrading their rating to buy, anticipating sustained double-digit growth in the coming year.
Amidst its OpenWorld conference in Las Vegas, Oracle has positioned its cloud business as a potent revenue driver. The company’s cloud infrastructure and databases have elicited investor applause, with a 45% surge in revenue in the cloud unit from the previous year. By forging partnerships with major cloud providers like Microsoft and AWS, Oracle has positioned itself for exponential growth in the database business, a move that Ellison believes will be pivotal for long-term success.
Ellison’s foray into AI has seen him challenge the status quo of password security, denouncing passwords as “utterly ridiculous.” In his pursuit of streamlined user authentication, he envisions a future where log-on processes are intuitive, eliminating the need for passwords altogether. With his relentless pursuit of innovation, Ellison continues to push the boundaries of technology, even as he embarks on his 81st year on Earth.
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