BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman downgraded Oracle (ORCL) to Market Perform from Outperform with an unchanged price target of $53 following last night's fiscal Q3 results. The stock in premarket trading is down 3%, or $1.65, to $51.40. The analyst believes Oracle can sustain ~2% constant currency revenue growth, but is "dubious" the company can improve its revenue growth rates. He does not think autonomous database or gradual unfolding of the cloud enterprise resource planning market will help Oracle's growth in fiscal 2020. As demonstrated by IBM (IBM) over the years, an aggressive buyback will not be enough to push the shares meaningfully higher without improved top-line results, Bachman tells investors in a post-earnings research note. As such, he sees a balanced risk/reward profile at current share levels.

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IBM (IBM) is nearing an acquisition of HashiCorp (HCP) and deal could come together in the coming days, Lauren Thomas and Laura Cooper of Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter. A deal for HashiCorp would likely command a premium above where the stock is currently trading, the Journal says. Shares of HashiCorp jumped 7% to $26.37 following the report before halting for volatility. IBM is down 66c to $181.28 in afternoon trade. Reference Link

Jefferies analyst Brent Thill lowered the firm's price target on IBM to $210 from $215 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. IBM remains a "show me story" as the company looks to reposition itself around a software-led strategy, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm likes the company's initiatives to bolster its software growth and profitability profile, but thinks better execution on the new go-to-market strategy and further investments in the organic engine are necessary to drive long-term software growth higher. Until signs of a re-energized software business are seen, IBM's risk/reward "seems balanced," Jefferies contends.

UBS raised the firm's price target on IBM to $130 from $125 and keeps a Sell rating on the shares. The firm updated its model, noting that a gain on the sale of Weather Channel assets lifts its Q1 EPS, but it lowered its view on the rest of the year.