Oracle Downgraded To Underperform On Amazon Concerns

Shares of Oracle fell 1% in premarket trade after JMP Securities downgraded the stock to market underperform from market perform amid greater competition from Amazon Web Services . The analysts also reduced their price target to $31, which implies an 18% stock-price decline from Tuesday's closing price. Shares of Oracle were on track to open down 1% to $37.43 on Wednesday. They have fallen 7.3% over the last three months, versus a 5% decline for the S&P 500. In addition to increased competition from Amazon, the JMP analysts pointed to customer dissatisfaction with Oracle's pricing, concerns regarding the company's aggressive sales incentives, and new corporate expense controls as reasons for the downgrade. The downgrade makes JMP one of the most bearish brokerages on Oracle. The average rating on the stock currently is overweight, according to a poll of more than 20 analysts on FactSet.