J.P. Morgan Initiates Microsoft At Buy; Oracle Gets Sell Rating

Analysts at J.P. Morgan on Tuesday initiated coverage of Microsoft Corp. at a buy but slapped Oracle Corp. with a sell rating. "We are optimistic about Microsoft's transformation and the strength of its cloud platform to gain share in the enterprise," the analysts said in a report to investors. However, they expressed concerns over Oracle's applications and hardware units, noting that it has lost market share to competitors such as Salesforce.com and Workday. Microsoft shares fell 0.4% to $48.43 while shares of Oracle rose 0.4% to $42.23.