Shares in Oracle Corp recovered slightly Friday after the software giant calmed the skittish Wall Street crowd at its annual meeting with analysts. The stock rose $0.875 to close at $23.875, a day after it dropped 9% on widespread fears that it would tell analysts that fourth-quarter results would be weaker than expected. That didn’t happen, though, as the company said the quarter was actually progressing somewhat ahead of expectations after the two months.
In research notes on the meeting, CS First Boston analyst Wendell Laidley said, Given that sentiment going into analyst day was so negative, the tone of the meeting was on the margin more positive than we expected. Prudential Securities actually raised its rating on the company’s stock to strong buy from accumulate.
Both CSFB and Merrill Lynch have maintained their current estimates – $2.7bn in revenue and $0.33 in earnings and $2.85bn and $0.35, respectively – but Merrill also notes that it’s estimates still may be at risk. And looking further ahead, CSFB indicates a strong likelihood that our FY00 estimates may come down after the May quarter to establish more conservative expectations.
