Re: Oracle
>>Each individual company has their own unique story based on the 'game' they are playing.<<
Nice MF article on oracle, a gorilla not even in the G&K portfolio.BB's comments apply to this gorilla I think because a year ago the market didn't think much of its prospects.Since then it's zoomed. Tomorrow's earning report will be interesting.
By Brian Graney (TMF Panic)
June 19, 2000
Joining in the business land-grab fueled by the emergence of wireless data technologies, the OracleMobile unit of business software maker Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) rolled out a two-way wireless messaging service today called Ask@OracleMobile. Through the service, wireless Internet device users can get such information as driving directions, flight details, and the always-popular stock quotes by simply asking for it through the OracleMobile.com portal. Wireless data and messaging company Metrocall (Nasdaq: MCLL) and wireless handhelds maker Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) will help OracleMobile promote the service, which can be accessed free of charge.
Metrocall moved up quickly on the announcement, even though it wasn't clear exactly how the company would benefit financially from what is basically just a promotion agreement. Apparently, getting the Metrocall and Oracle names together on the same press release was enough to lift the paging company's stock, which has been a regular at the Penny Stock Cafe for a number of years. Today's news may have also rekindled excitement about the company's two-way messaging prospects, which hit a fever pitch in early March when the company was awarded major market radio frequency licenses in a federal auction. That development sent Metrocall's stock soaring to over $17 per share, although the jump was short-lived.
On the other hand, RIM saw no such benefit from riding on Oracle's PR coattails. On a market cap basis, RIM is about five times the size of Metrocall, so it takes more than a promotion agreement with a NOW 50 company to juice the stock. Furthermore, things are still a bit shaky at RIM after worries about rising expenses shook up the firm's shares in mid-April. Still, getting RIM's assistance in the Ask@OracleMobile rollout was a pretty savvy move for Oracle, as the company's BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices have been gaining in popularity among the more travel-busy companies of corporate America.
The Ask@OracleMobile service does not require a Web browser and is platform-neutral, working on Web phones, pagers, PDAs, and all types of other Web- or e-mail-enabled wireless devices. Right now, users can only request information in 10 or so general subject categories, although more are in the works. Think of it as a scaled-down wireless version of AskJeeves' (Nasdaq: ASKJ) online answer-finder or an evolved form of the wonderfully fun Telefact useless trivia resource that's been around for years at the University of Pittsburgh.
However, investors should not expect the projects and services coming out of OracleMobile to make a major dent in Oracle's overall business anytime soon. The company's main claim to fame remains its database software, with the areas of B2B e-commerce and customer relationship management (CRM) applications serving as two of its major growth engines.
Still, it's nice to see that the company is not afraid to allocate some resources early on in the mobile data game and look for ways to profitably tap into the emerging area. Who knows? A few years from now, mobile data may actually develop into the killer sector that so many analysts today spend so much time reminding investors it will be. Until then, OracleMobile is a small but interesting area for Oracle shareholders to keep an eye on. |
