S&P MAINTAINS STRONG BUY RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF ORACLE CORP.

S&P MAINTAINS STRONG BUY RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF ORACLE CORP. (ORCL; 18.75):
August-quarter operating EPS of $0.28, vs. $0.21, is $0.02 above our estimate. Sales rose 18% to $5.42 billion, below our $5.45 billion view. New licenses rose 14% to $1.24 billion, $8 million below our outlook. Application licenses fell 12%, on tough comps, while database and middleware licenses rose 27%, helped by $84 million contribution from BEA. Operating margins widened notably, and we think ORCL performed well in a seasonally slow quarter. We continue to expect ORCL to grow faster than peers. We raise our fiscal year 2009 (May) EPS estimate $0.02 to $1.49 and initiate our fiscal year 2010 view at $1.71. We maintain our $25 target price. -Z. Bokhari