Rising Sun: Oracle Shares Expected to Keep Growing on Sun Microsystems Buy

Oracle (ORCL) completed its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems back in January, but at least one analyst still expects to see shares of the business software and hardware company rise as a result.

In a research note Tuesday (via InformationWeek), Wells Fargo (WFC) analyst Jason Maynard predicted the company's stock could grow as much as 20% in the next 12 months because of higher profit margins and IT market share from combining with Sun.

Oracle's share prices today reflect only the cyclical recovery in the U.S. economy and don't account for the additional profits from the Sun integration, according to Maynard, who has an outperform rating on the stock. Shares grew 1.42% Wednesday to $25.74.

Other analysts also agree that Oracle has room to grow. The average rating for the stock is a buy, according to a First Call survey of 29 analysts.

Oracle, which is scheduled to post earnings Thursday, grabbed public attention earlier this month when it hired former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd as its co-president. HP has sued Hurd in response, alleging that he risks violating confidentiality agreements by accepting the position. Oracle became an HP competitor in the server industry when it acquired Sun.