Can Oracle Corporation (ORCL) Hold Its Momentum? – Acme Packet, Inc. (APKT)

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) are up 23% since closing at $29.42 on Nov. 14. For that matter, since early September, the company has added $13 billion in market cap. And looking back farther, since reaching a low of $25.33 last May, the stock has surged 43%. And yet, shares are still making new 52-week highs.

The fact that the shares have soared so quickly have caused investors to wonder if there’s still room here to profit. While some stocks often take off and never look back, especially those in tech, Oracle has consistently given investors plenty of second chances to buy. And now is just as good a time as any, because Oracle’s now packing heat.

Where’s the “new” Oracle going?
We can’t talk about Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL)’s momentum without first knowing when and where it started. I’ve highlighted what the stock price has done over the past several months, but the company has done everything in its power to deserve the optimism, including a beat on both the top and bottom lines in the second quarter, which also included an 18% increase in profits.

However, the most impressive aspect of the report was the 17% surge year over year in  software licenses and subscriptions business — enough to exceed management’s own bullish projections. This suggests that Oracle’s cloud strategy is performing well, despite what bears may think. However, Oracle is a much different company today — helped by its recent acquisitions of Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT), which has a 40% share in the session border control, or SBC, market.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) now has a way to offer enterprise clients secure network sessions that supports multiple applications. What’s more, Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT)’s product portfolio, which includes the Net-Net line of devices, now gives Oracle another way to better compete against enterprise rival Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO). For that matter, Oracle’s ability to now pivot off its Cloud portfolio puts current rivals such as salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) at a disadvantage.

The ability to now attack new markets is one thing, but Oracle is able to leverage what the database giant already does well, especially considering the growing demand among service providers looking for ways to engage their customers in more effective ways. Hence, another shot at Salesforce and IBM. Oracle was always known as a savvy acquirer, but Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT) just might have been Oracle’s signature piece to its one-stop-shop enterprise model — a way to create separation from core rivals.