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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: ORCL, WMT, AMZN, MSFT and ZM

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 22, 2020 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Oracle ORCL, Walmart WMT, Amazon AMZN, Microsoft MSFT and Zoom Video Communications ZM.

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Oracle Stake in TikTok to Rev Up Cloud Market

President Donald Trump recently announced that ByteDance, TikTok app’s parent company, has received "a tentative approval" for a deal with the U.S. Government. Per the agreement, Oracle and Walmart will invest to acquire 12.5% and 7.5%, respectively, of the newly formed TikTok Global business.

TikTok is now devising a new company, TikTok Global, through which all TikTok services will be offered to users in the United States and most of the users in the rest of the world.

Moreover, Oracle will become TikTok’s secure cloud provider, which will intensify competition in the cloud space. This deal will aid Oracle to take the fight to Amazon’s Amazon Web Services (AWS), the dominant cloud provider, and Microsoft’s cloud computing arm, Azure, which only trails AWS in the cloud market.

Following the development, shares of Oracle are up more than 3.5% in the pre-market trading on Sep 21. Meanwhile, shares of Microsoft and Amazon are down around 2% in the pre-market.

Year-to-Date Price Performance

All American data will be deployed on Oracle’s Generation 2 Cloud data centers, which will ensure data privacy and security for 100 million American TikTok users.

Markedly, Oracle’s Generation 2 Cloud completely segregates the running of applications and response to security threats autonomously. This removes the risk of foreign governments or agencies from spying on American users or creating an influence with disinformation.

Meanwhile, Walmart will provide TikTok Global with its omni-channel retail expertise which includes Walmart.com assortment, fulfillment, payment, eCommerce marketplace, and measurement-as-a-service advertising service capabilities.

Moreover, TikTok Global along with Oracle, General Atlantic, Sequoia, SIG, Walmart and Coatue will offer an educational initiative in a bid to develop an AI-based online video curriculum and provide children from inner cities to suburbs, with various courses from “basic reading and math to science, history and computer engineering.”

TikTok Global Set for an IPO

Per the agreement, TikTok Global will have an IPO within a year’s time and be listed on a U.S. Exchange, post which its U.S. ownership is projected to grow over time.

This will enable TikTok Global to continue providing its American users’ (over a hundred million) access to TikTok, and rev up competition in the social networking market. Per a Bloomberg article, ByteDance is pursuing a valuation of $60 billion for TikTok, “citing a person familiar with the matter.”

It remains to be seen on how terms evolve in the days ahead and become clearer. TikTok Global is anticipated to create more than 25,000 new jobs in the United States and “pay more than 5 billion in new tax dollars to the U.S. Treasury.”

Notably, TikTok Global will be majority owned by American investors, which includes both Oracle and Walmart. Further, it will operate as an independent U.S. company with headquarters in the country, and Americans making up four out of the five board of directors.

It must also be noted that “all the TikTok technology will be in possession of TikTok Global and comply with U.S. laws and privacy regulations.”

Oracle’s Autonomous Database Strength to Boost Cloud Push

TikTok’s unparalleled strength in user base and the resultant huge database is a key catalyst and the latest deal raises the odds in favor of Oracle to prosper in the cloud market.

The popular app, which allows people to record and edit short videos witnessed rapid momentum during the pandemic, driven by shelter-in-place guidelines and stay-at-home wave.

As mentioned, the app boasts an estimated 100 million users in the United States alone. Moreover, per data analytics firm Sensor Tower report, TikTok stood out as the most downloaded non-gaming app globally for August 2020 with more than 63.3 million installations, up 1.6% year over year.

China-owned music-video app is looking for survival amid backlash from the United States, India, Japan, the European Union, and Australia.

Oracle’s deal win and confirmation from President Trump reflects the trust it has earned, on both sides, from the perspective of ByteDance and the U.S. Government.

Oracle, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is making every effort to enhance functionalities of cloud-based applications, which is encouraging adoption. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

These initiatives are also expected to provide the company an edge in the Database-as-a-Service market and reinforce its competitive position against AWS.

Moreover, the next-generation autonomous database launched by Oracle, supported by ML, is gaining traction. In first-quarter fiscal 2021, Oracle added new Autonomous Database cloud customers. New product introductions are likely to bolster growth in this category. Markedly, autonomous databases in Gen2 public cloud infrastructure are witnessing rapid adoption.

Oracle’s latest Exadata Cloud@Customer service offering is also gaining traction among on-premise customers.

Noteworthy deal wins of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services and autonomous database include Xactly, United Breweries of India, Safaricom PLC, Schneider Electric, McDonald’s, Rinna, Polycab India, Arterra Wines Canada, and Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Management remains optimistic that Zoom Video Communications and 8x8 are utilizing OCI services to enhance video meeting solutions in a secure manner amid explosive growth in user base.

Markedly, autonomous database consumption revenues improved 64% and annualized consumption revenues for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services soared 130% during fiscal first quarter.

Competitive Scenario

Amazon, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3, is the leading provider of cloud infrastructure as a service to enterprise customers. The expanding customer base of AWS driven by its strengthening cloud offerings will continue to aid Amazon's dominance in the global cloud space.

Even more encouraging is the fact that AWS generates much stronger margins than the traditional retail business, which should remain a positive for the company’s profitability as it continues to grow in the mix.

Microsoft is benefiting from momentum in Azure, and impressive growth in clientele triggered by the coronavirus crisis led work-from-home, online learning wave and tele healthcare trends. Furthermore, it is well poised to expand the total addressable market through acquisition of GitHub.

Also, Azure’s increased availability in 58 regions globally, is expected to strengthen Microsoft's competitive position in the cloud computing market. Microsoft currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Per a Canalys report, Microsoft’s market share in the cloud services space increased to 20% in second-quarter 2020 from 18% in the prior-year quarter. AWS market share remained unchanged at 31% for second-quarter 2020 on a year-over-year basis.

Notably, per Synergy Research Group’s data on second-quarter 2020, Oracle’s market share of 2% in cloud infrastructure services market, trails Amazon’s 33%, Microsoft’s 18%, Google’s 9%, Alibaba’s 6%, IBM’s 5%, and salesforce’s 3%.

Nevertheless, Oracle’s 12.5% stake in TikTok Global business, is likely to be a game changer. It positions the company well to rev up competition in the cloud domain and ensnare more market share, in the days ahead.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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