Artisan Global Fund Slightly Down; Oracle Stock Holds
Artisan Global Fund Slightly Down; Oracle Stock Holds Steady Amidst AI Boom
Artisan Partners' Artisan Global Opportunities Fund reported slight losses in the fourth quarter of 2024, with its Investor, Advisor, and Institutional classes returning -1.67%, -1.65%, and -1.62%, respectively. This contrasts with the MSCI All Country World Index's -0.99% return. Despite the quarterly dip, the fund posted strong overall returns for 2024. A key holding, Oracle Corporation (ORCL), saw a one-month return of -3.37% but a 52-week gain of 17.45%, closing at $145.86 per share on April 2, 2025, with a market capitalization of $409.025 billion.
The fund's investor letter highlighted Oracle's anticipated profit cycle growth driven by its expanding cloud infrastructure (OCI) and the secular shift to cloud computing. The letter noted that Oracle's OCI has undergone significant upgrades, leading to new customer acquisitions due to its competitive pricing and expanding global reach. Furthermore, the migration of its lower-margin on-premise database business to the cloud promises a significant profit boost. Oracle's ambitious 2029 revenue target of $104 billion, representing a projected 16% annual revenue growth, further underscored its positive outlook. The fund capitalized on the stock's quarterly pullback, viewing it as a buying opportunity.
While some analysts see Oracle as a promising AI play due to its role in providing data center servers for AI applications, others maintain a more cautious stance. Oracle's revenue increased 6% year-over-year to $14.1 billion in its fiscal 2025 third quarter, with cloud services revenue surging 23% to $6.2 billion. Significant sales contracts with major tech companies like Meta Platforms, Nvidia, AMD, OpenAI, and xAI point to continued revenue expansion. The Stargate joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, which plans to invest up to $500 billion in AI data centers, is also expected to fuel further growth. However, concerns remain about the company's heavy spending on data center expansion impacting free cash flow and the vulnerability of its growth to any slowdown in AI spending. J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Murphy currently maintains a "Hold" rating on ORCL, with a price target of $135.00, citing a balanced risk-reward profile despite Oracle's strategic positioning and recurring revenue streams. Oracle's trailing 12-month P/E ratio currently sits at 36.
Artisan Partners' Artisan Global Opportunities Fund reported slight losses in the fourth quarter of 2024, with its Investor, Advisor, and Institutional classes returning -1.67%, -1.65%, and -1.62%, respectively. This contrasts with the MSCI All Country World Index's -0.99% return. Despite the quarterly dip, the fund posted strong overall returns for 2024. A key holding, Oracle Corporation (ORCL), saw a one-month return of -3.37% but a 52-week gain of 17.45%, closing at $145.86 per share on April 2, 2025, with a market capitalization of $409.025 billion.
The fund's investor letter highlighted Oracle's anticipated profit cycle growth driven by its expanding cloud infrastructure (OCI) and the secular shift to cloud computing. The letter noted that Oracle's OCI has undergone significant upgrades, leading to new customer acquisitions due to its competitive pricing and expanding global reach. Furthermore, the migration of its lower-margin on-premise database business to the cloud promises a significant profit boost. Oracle's ambitious 2029 revenue target of $104 billion, representing a projected 16% annual revenue growth, further underscored its positive outlook. The fund capitalized on the stock's quarterly pullback, viewing it as a buying opportunity.
While some analysts see Oracle as a promising AI play due to its role in providing data center servers for AI applications, others maintain a more cautious stance. Oracle's revenue increased 6% year-over-year to $14.1 billion in its fiscal 2025 third quarter, with cloud services revenue surging 23% to $6.2 billion. Significant sales contracts with major tech companies like Meta Platforms, Nvidia, AMD, OpenAI, and xAI point to continued revenue expansion. The Stargate joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, which plans to invest up to $500 billion in AI data centers, is also expected to fuel further growth. However, concerns remain about the company's heavy spending on data center expansion impacting free cash flow and the vulnerability of its growth to any slowdown in AI spending. J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Murphy currently maintains a "Hold" rating on ORCL, with a price target of $135.00, citing a balanced risk-reward profile despite Oracle's strategic positioning and recurring revenue streams. Oracle's trailing 12-month P/E ratio currently sits at 36.
