Oracle (ORCL) Stock Climbs on JPMorgan Upgrade and $553B Backlog

TLDR

• JPMorgan initiated Oracle coverage at Overweight with a $210 price target, sending ORCL up 2.4% in pre-market trading
• Oracle signed a $30 billion cloud infrastructure deal with the US government earlier in 2026
• Q3 IaaS revenue hit $4.89 billion, up 84% year over year; Remaining Performance Obligations surged to $553 billion
• Oracle beat Q3 earnings estimates with EPS of $1.79 vs $1.71 expected, on revenue of $17.19 billion
• Consensus analyst rating sits at Moderate Buy with an average price target of $261.46

Oracle (ORCL) stock climbed 2.4% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $210 price target.

Oracle Corporation, ORCL

Analyst Mark Murphy cited an improved risk/reward profile, noting that investor sentiment had swung from “blind faith to widespread pessimism” around Oracle’s fiscal 2030 targets — and that the pendulum may have swung too far.

The broader market wasn’t doing Oracle any favors. The S&P 500 was flat, the Dow barely moved, and the Nasdaq was unchanged. This move was all Oracle.

The JPMorgan call lands on top of an already busy year for the company. Oracle locked in a $30 billion cloud infrastructure contract with the US government earlier in 2026 — one of the largest cloud deals ever signed.

That contract cemented Oracle’s position as a key AI computing provider for national security and defense workloads.

Strong Financials Backing the Bullish Case

Oracle’s most recent quarterly results gave analysts plenty to work with. The company posted Q3 EPS of $1.79, beating the $1.71 consensus estimate, on revenue of $17.19 billion against expectations of $16.91 billion.

Revenue was up 21.7% year over year. IaaS revenue specifically came in at $4.89 billion, an 84% jump from the same period last year.

Perhaps the most eye-catching number: Remaining Performance Obligations hit $553 billion, up 325% year over year. That’s a massive forward revenue backlog driven by large AI contracts.

Oracle guided Q4 2026 EPS of $1.96 to $2.00, and full-year analyst estimates sit at $6.08 EPS.

Institutional Interest Remains Steady

Huntington National Bank increased its Oracle position by 0.6% in Q4, ending the period with 672,225 shares valued at roughly $131 million.

Other firms added too. Brighton Jones LLC grew its Oracle stake by 189.3% in Q4, while Revolve Wealth Partners and United Bank both increased positions. Institutional investors and hedge funds own about 42.44% of the stock.

On the insider side, EVP Stuart Levey sold 15,000 shares on April 16th at an average price of $176.19, a transaction totaling $2.64 million. That sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Wedbush raised its Oracle price target from $225 to $275 earlier this month, maintaining an Outperform rating. Citigroup has a $320 target with a Buy rating.

Across the board, Oracle currently carries 3 Strong Buy ratings, 29 Buy ratings, 9 Hold ratings, and just 1 Sell. The average price target stands at $261.46.

The stock’s one-year range sits between $134.57 and $345.72. It was trading around $190.73 before today’s pre-market move.

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