When software stock Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) rolled out some new artificial intelligence-backed features on its human resources tools, the early reaction was slight but good. By Wednesday afternoon’s trading, however, that slightly good response soured and turned slightly down. Oracle had big claims ready for its newly-augmented HR tools, starting with producing value for end users faster, improving productivity at work, making for a better experience for both workers and employers alike, and picking up the pace of HR activities. As described by Oracle’s executive vice president for applications development, Chris Leone, the new AI tools would not only be able to generate content but also summarize it and recommend some parts of it as well.
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Good news for end users if it works as advertised. But Oracle then started dealing blows to friends and rivals alike. For instance, where Oracle’s database software could normally only be used with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) processors, now it can be used with processors from Ampere Computing. That’s a hit to Intel, which enjoyed dominance in data center operations for some time. Then, Oracle revealed that its MySQL HeatWave database system is about a thousand times faster than Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and its Aurora system. Oracle’s Larry Ellison noted that Oracle effectively “…run(s) twice as fast and…cost(s) half as much” as a result.
Yet, even with that, analysts are split on Oracle’s likely outcome. Almost perfectly split, too; right now, Oracle stock is considered a Moderate Buy by analysts with 13 Buy and 12 Hold ratings. Further, Oracle stock offers 10.71% upside potential thanks to its average price target of $129.37 per share.
