Oracle Is a Bargain in a Bifurcated Tech Market

The bull market continues to push further into nosebleed-valuation territory, making it ever harder for investors to find bargains. But attractive buying opportunities still exist, even in the generally overbought technology sector.

Here’s a tech bargain that’s a smart growth bet now: Oracle (ORCL) . You’re probably surprised, because many mega-cap blue chips are absurdly expensive right now. But even as the Nasdaq gets stretched to extreme bullishness, Oracle’s valuation is cheap relative to its peers and growth prospects.

In the meantime, the Trump rally keeps running at a frenetic pace, like a kid who has eaten too much Halloween candy.

The broader indices crossed another series of thresholds on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high for the 12th consecutive time, the longest winning streak for the Dow in three decades. The S&P 500 also closed at a record high.

However, while you may think the vast majority of tech stocks are dangerously overvalued, nothing is further from the truth. A closer examination of the tech sector reveals that it has become a bifurcated market, with a highly visible minority of Wall Street darlings trading at very high multiples, while less-loved but intrinsically strong stocks get short shrift.

For that reason, there’s opportunity for savvy investors to bargain hunt for well-priced value stocks that should deliver steady growth for decades to come.

A salient case in point is cloud software developer Oracle, which currently trades at 20.4 times earnings. Oracle’s valuation compares quite favorably to the earnings multiples of such peers as Microsoft (MSFT) (30.2), VMware (VMW) (32.6), F5 Networks (FFIV) (25.9), and Salesforce (CRM) (a whopping 281.2).

To some extent, Oracle has been victimized by public misconceptions about cloud storage stocks. Oracle was an early pioneer in the booming cloud space, but it’s now getting penalized for being an early entrant as newer and “sexier” competitors enter the fray.

However, Oracle hasn’t been standing still. With a market cap of $125 billion, the company continues to apply its enormous cash hoard to acquiring smaller, innovative cloud players. Oracle currently boasts cash on hand of $58.21 billion, a war chest that should help the company weather the turbulence expected for stocks and the economy this year.

What’s more, as recent breaches of Internet security illustrate, customers will demand that only the largest and most reliable vendors like Oracle be used in managing these complex cloud infrastructures.

Analysts expect Oracle to post year-over-year earnings growth next year of 9.4%. Over the next five years, earnings growth is projected to reach 8.4% on an annualized basis.

Even in this frothy market, you can still find value plays among the Silicon Valley behemoths, if you put aside conventional wisdom and focus on fundamentals.

Boring, Predictable, No-Surprises Strategy Safely Generates $67,548

If big, triple-digit winners get your adrenaline pumping, then stop reading this right now. Because this probably isn’t for you… Only traders who would calmly enjoy raking in an extra $67,548 with no surprises or hiccups will appreciate this strategy. In fact, over the course of 1,586 days, I’ve been leisurely collecting giant payouts with this boring approach. I win 8 out of every 10 trades… GUARANTEED. Click here to join me.

John Persinos is an analyst and editor at Investing Daily. At the time of publication, he owned stock in Oracle.

[“Source-thestreet”]