Sector Watch: Oracle Forecast Boosts Enterprise Software Makers
Software stocks were on the rise today after
Oracle's
(ORCL) - Get Report
vision last night offered hopes of an industry upswing in the second half of 2001. The
Dow Jones U.S. Software Index
gained 4.6%, and the
Goldman Sachs Technology Index - Software
climbed 5.3%.
After topping analysts' fourth-quarter earnings expectations but missing revenue projections, Oracle executives said
they believe they have reached the bottom. Shares of Oracle recently rose 13.5% to $16.85.
"Oracle is the bellwether for that part of the sector, even more than
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
, because Microsoft is PC and boxmaker dependent," said Doug Myers, the vice president of equity trading at
IJL Wachovia
.
Microsoft was gaining 2.5% recently, while other enterprise software developers posted much larger gains. Germany's
SAP
(SAP) - Get Report
, regarded as Oracle's biggest competitor in Europe, climbed 7.4%.
PeopleSoft
(PSFT)
jumped 8.5% to $43.07, off the day's high of $43.89.
Shares of
Veritas
(VRTS) - Get Report
rose 4.6% to $63.43.
BEA Systems
(BEAS)
gained 6.4% to $30.26.
Oracle received a series of upgrades this morning following last night's earnings and outlook.
Merrill Lynch
raised the stock to a long-term buy from accumulate, Salomon upgraded it to market outperform from neutral and
Credit Suisse First Boston
analyst Wendell Laidley boosted the company to strong buy from buy.
Siebel
(SEBL)
climbed following the Oracle news but was also lifted by an analyst's upgrade of its own.
Salomon Smith Barney's
Heather Bellini
bumped the software maker up to a market outperform rating from a neutral rating. Shares of Siebel rose 9.6% to $41.96.