Uranium and utilities stocks set to soar even higher as Big Tech goes nuclear

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

ORCL+2.47%

MSFT+1.58%

VST+0.21%

Source: MarketWatch

Updated: Oct 15 2024

0mins

Source: MarketWatch

Nuclear Energy Investment Outlook: The author, a long-time supporter of nuclear energy, believes that uranium stocks still have significant growth potential despite their recent surge of 400%-500% since 2017, compared to the S&P 500's 150% increase.
Tech Companies Embracing Nuclear Power: Major tech companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, and Google are increasingly committing to nuclear power, highlighted by Microsoft's deal to restart a Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania.

ORCL

$178.18+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on ORCL

Wall Street analysts forecast ORCL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for ORCL is 309.59 USD with a low forecast of 180.00 USD and a high forecast of 400.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

34 Analyst Rating

25 Buy

9 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 173.880

Low

180.00

Averages

309.59

High

400.00

Current: 173.880

Low

180.00

Averages

309.59

High

400.00

Guggenheim

maintain

$400

2026-01-20

New

Reason

Guggenheim

Price Target

$400

AI Analysis

2026-01-20

New

maintain

Reason

Guggenheim contends that Oracle will likely maintain its investment grade credit rating, even as capex ramps up earlier than the Street and the bond rating agencies expect, and argues that Oracle remains "the best opportunity in the Software sector." The firm believes "even more strongly" that this is a "decade stock" that will grow EPS at hyper rates, and free cash flow will "eventually waterfall into very significant numbers," but investors will have to wait for that to happen. While "we keep calling this a decade stock (because we believe it is), we expect the numbers to be irrefutable in half that time and be obvious long before that," adds the analyst, who notes that Oracle remains his Best Idea with a $400 price target and Buy rating.

UBS

Buy

downgrade

$325 -> $280

2026-01-05

Reason

UBS

Price Target

$325 -> $280

2026-01-05

downgrade

Buy

Reason

UBS lowered the firm's price target on Oracle to $280 from $325. Oracle's 41% drop from mid-September highs reflects investor concerns about its outlook and OpenAI's impact on related stocks, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Despite this, UBS reaffirms its Buy rating given pending revenue growth, the ramp of Abilene data center capacity, potential reversal of cautious OpenAI sentiment in 1H26, and largely embedded credit/financing risks.

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RBC Capital

Rishi Jaluria

Sector Perform

downgrade

$250 -> $195

2026-01-05

Reason

RBC Capital

Rishi Jaluria

Price Target

$250 -> $195

2026-01-05

downgrade

Sector Perform

Reason

RBC Capital analyst Rishi Jaluria lowered the firm's price target on Oracle to $195 from $250 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares. 2026 is likely to be a year when AI tailwinds become more evident for companies well positioned for enterprise AI adoption, while less prepared peers may remain pressured by the "AI is the death of software" narrative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Enterprise spending appears to be stabilizing and improving in select areas, with GenAI driving innovation even as management teams remain conservative in early 2026 guidance, the firm says.

Phillip Securities

Buy

downgrade

$350 -> $344

2025-12-14

Reason

Phillip Securities

Price Target

$350 -> $344

2025-12-14

downgrade

Buy

Reason

Phillip Securities lowered the firm's price target on Oracle to $344 from $350 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm increased its fiscal 2026 capital expenditure forecast for Oracle to $50B from $35B. It remains "bullish on Oracle as a niche OCI provider and a full-stack AI provider."

About ORCL

Oracle Corporation offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. The Company operates through three businesses: cloud and license, hardware and service. Its cloud and license business is engaged in the sale, marketing and delivery of its enterprise applications and infrastructure technologies through cloud and on-premise deployment models including its cloud services and license support offerings, and its cloud license and on-premise license offerings. Its hardware business provides infrastructure technologies including Oracle Engineered Systems, servers, storage, industry-specific hardware, operating systems, virtualization, management and other hardware-related software to support diverse IT environments. Its services business provides services to customers and partners to help maximize the performance of their investments in Oracle applications and infrastructure technologies.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.