Oracle's earnings beat has the stock trading at record highs
Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) stock was last seen up 10.1% to trade at $125.70, after the tech company beat fiscal third-quarter earnings thanks in part to artificial intelligence (AI) demand. The company also teased a joint announcement with chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) ahead of a global AI conference for developers on Monday, March 18.
ORCL drew no fewer than 16 price-target hikes in response, the highest coming from Mizuho to $160 from $140. Analysts remain split on ORCL, however, with half the brokerage firms in coverage calling it a "hold," so a round of upgrades could generate tailwinds.
Shares today finally cleared $129 -- where rallies ran out of steam in June and September -- to notch an all-time high of $129.37. The 80-day moving average, which coincides with a short-term floor at $111, served as a springboard for today's rally, which could also mark ORCL' best day since June 2022. In the last 12 months, Oracle stock added 49%.
Options traders aren't missing a beat. So far today, 116,000 calls and 63,000 puts have crossed the tape, volume that's 20 times the intraday average amount. Most active is the March 130 call, followed by the April 130 call, with positions being opened at the former.
That call bias is nothing new. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), ORCL's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.48 ranks higher than 89% of annual readings.