Oracle Healthcare AI Advances: Should You Buy the Stock Now or Wait?

Oracle’s ORCL recent announcement of its Health Clinical AI Agent represents a significant advancement in its broader push to embed AI capabilities across its product portfolio. The company has unveiled a multimodal voice and screen-driven assistant that helps physicians reduce documentation time by approximately 30%, addressing the critical issue of clinician burnout in healthcare settings.AI Innovation Driving Healthcare TransformationOracle Health Clinical AI Agent combines generative AI, agentic technology, automation, and simplified workflows into a unified solution that integrates directly with Oracle's electronic health record systems. Already deployed across 40 medical specialties, the solution has facilitated the creation of nearly a million notes while enabling healthcare providers to access critical patient information through natural voice commands.The healthcare AI announcement aligns with statements made by Oracle CTO Larry Ellison during the recent third-quarter earnings call, where he highlighted the company's AI agent development. "We have built lots of AI agents on top of Oracle databases and made those agents a part of our applications, modernizing and automating our applications," Ellison noted, specifically mentioning healthcare as a sector where Oracle's AI agents provide significant differentiation.Financial Performance Reveals Mixed SignalsOracle's third-quarter fiscal 2025 results showed both strengths and challenges. The company reported total revenues of $14.1 billion, representing a 6% year-over-year increase in USD and 8% in constant currency. Cloud services and license support revenues grew to $11 billion, up 12% in constant currency, while cloud infrastructure revenues increased 51%.Particularly impressive was Oracle's remaining performance obligations, which surged 63% year over year to $130 billion. CEO Safra Catz emphasized this metric as a leading indicator of future revenue growth, projecting a 15% increase in overall revenues for fiscal 2026 and approximately 20% for fiscal 2027.However, Oracle reported non-GAAP earnings of $1.47 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings by 0.68%. Revenues of $14.13 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.59%, disappointing investors’ enthusiasm for the company’s ascendant cloud business. The company's cloud license and on-premise license revenues declined 10% year over year (down 8% at cc) to $1.12 billion.Oracle trades at an EV/EBITDA multiple of 21.06x, substantially above the Zacks Computer-Software industry average of 16.6x. This premium valuation suggests that investors have already priced in exceptional future growth — growth that Oracle is increasingly struggling to deliver with modest revenue increases of just 6% year over year (8% in constant currency).ORCL’s EV/EBITDA TTM Ratio Depicts Premium ValuationImage Source: Zacks Investment ResearchThe consensus mark for fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $6.03 per share, down 0.2% over the past 30 days.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFind the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.Cloud Infrastructure Momentum Builds Against CompetitorsOracle's cloud infrastructure business has become a standout performer, with OCI consumption revenues increasing 57%. The company reached a milestone with its 101st cloud region coming online, positioning it to potentially surpass all competitors' combined cloud regions in the near future.The company has attracted major technology players like Advanced Micro Devices AMD, CrowdStrike CRWD and Palo Alto Networks PANW to its cloud platform, while also making significant inroads with hyperscalers through its Database@Cloud service offering, which grew 200% in the last quarter.However, during its latest earnings call, Oracle acknowledged that component delays have hampered cloud capacity expansion — a significant admission for a company positioning itself as a critical infrastructure provider for AI workloads. At a time when competitors like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google Cloud are rapidly scaling their infrastructure to meet surging AI demand, Oracle's supply chain challenges represent a competitive disadvantage that could cost it critical market share.With a 2.2% decline in the year-to-date period, ORCL has underperformed both the broader Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the S&P 500, which dropped 1.3% and 0.3%, respectively.Year-to-date PerformanceImage Source: Zacks Investment ResearchInvestment Outlook: Wait for a Better Entry PointDespite Oracle's impressive cloud growth and AI strategy, investors may want to exercise caution in the near term. The company currently trades at elevated valuation multiples relative to historical norms, while facing potential headwinds from component supply chain issues that have temporarily constrained cloud capacity expansion.While the backlog of $130 billion provides strong visibility into future growth, the company indicated that component delays have slowed cloud capacity expansion, potentially limiting near-term revenue conversion. Safra Catz noted that these constraints should ease in first-quarter fiscal 2026, which suggests that better growth acceleration may materialize later in 2025.Oracle's heavy capital expenditures, expected to exceed $16 billion for fiscal 2025, will pressure free cash flow in the immediate future. The trailing 12-month free cash flow of $5.8 billion represents a 53% year-over-year decline, primarily due to strategic infrastructure investments.Given these mixed signals, investors may find better entry points later in 2025 as cloud capacity constraints ease and the significant investments in AI infrastructure begin to generate stronger returns. The long-term thesis remains compelling, but patience could yield more attractive valuation opportunities for this cloud and AI transformation story. Oracle currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report Oracle Corporation (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis Report Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): Free Stock Analysis Report CrowdStrike (CRWD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks