Editor's note: This is part 11 of a 13-part series about companies whose shares have amassed 100,000% returns for investors and the path taken to generate such impressive gains over the long term. See below for links to the other stocks in this series.
Oracle (ORCL) is a leader in cutting-edge relational database technology, and the company's commitment to continuous innovation and investment in technology is what has made it a leader.
The original name of the company, which was founded in 1977, was Software Development Laboratories – an homage to its roots in the rigors of computer science.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
The company released its first product in 1979 and its first two customers were the Air Force and the CIA, which provide testimony to the revolutionary nature of relational databases.
They were never offered before and they enabled the creation of links between data sets that allowed users to gain unprecedented insights from unprecedented amounts of data.
Since relational databases were focused on managing large datasets, their customer base was self-selecting: The largest companies in the world used Oracle software.
A phone company could gain insights from data for billions of calls. An airline could manage hundreds of millions of reservations and a manufacturing company could keep tabs on the production data on, say, a million units of finished product.
The value and utility of relational databases drove Oracle sales. But there was another factor at work. The relentless drive of Oracle's mercurial co-founder Larry Ellison.
Ellison is a gifted innovator and leader but also hyper-competitive and many of the company's aggressive sales tactics stemmed directly from this drive.
These included threatening licensing audits, bundling products into groups that exceeded customers' needs, renewal efforts that threatened longer-term contracts if early offers were not accepted, and, of course, a young aggressive sales force led by managers who frequently got calls from Ellison himself.
While some of these tactics were questionable, they did their job in one respect: they drove sales at Oracle.
But Ellison's vision paid off as well. He understood early on the importance of cloud computing, and as early as 2012, shifted the company's focus away from so-called on-premise computing to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model.
While cloud computing has not killed off on-premise computing, it has relegated it to a smaller sector of the market, and Oracle dominates cloud-based enterprise-wide solutions. Further, it killed many on-premise software companies that did not embrace cloud computing quickly enough.
And Ellison's vision paid off again with AI. His embrace of the technology as early as 2020 by reconfiguring Oracle products means that today, its Gen2 Cloud solution is the leading infrastructure for managing generative AI workloads.
Oracle's investments in technology, commitment to innovation as technology shifts and its relentless marketing machine have shown up on the company's top and bottom line.
Since 2005, revenues have grown from $11.7 billion to $49.9 billion for the year ended 2023.
Should AI technology live up to its billing, Oracle could have another significant leg up in its growth. Even if the AI market is slower to develop than anticipated, Oracle is well-positioned to be present if and when it takes off.
Note: This content first appeared in Louis Navellier's latest book, The Sacred Truths of Investing: Finding Growth Stocks that Will Make You Rich, which was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Other 100,000% return stocks
- McDonald's Stock: How Small Changes Have Led to 100,000% Returns
- How Amazon Stock Became a Member of the 100,000% Return Club
- M&A Is Why UnitedHealth Group Stock Is a Member of the 100,000% Return Club
- Sherwin-Williams Is a Sleeper of the 100,000% Return Club
- Dealmaking Drives HEICO Stock's 100,000% Return
- Adobe Stock's Path to a 100,000% Return Is Impressive
- Apple's 100,000% Return Is a Result of Innovation, Brand Loyalty and Buybacks
- Home Depot's Winning Ways Fueled Its 100,000% Return
- It's No Surprise That Berkshire Hathaway's in the 100,000% Return Club
- Nvidia Stock's Been Growing for Years. Just Look At Its 100,000% Return
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Hits a New High as Nvidia SoarsA big day for Nvidia boosted the Nasdaq, but bank stocks created headwinds for the S&P 500.
-
June CPI Signals Tariff Impact: What the Experts SayThe June CPI report shows that inflation is accelerating, but at a pace that's in line with economists' expectations.
-
I'm a Financial Planner: Here Are Five Smart Moves for DIY InvestorsYou'll go further as a DIY investor with a solid game plan. Here are five tips to help you put together a strategy you can rely on over the years to come.
-
Neglecting Car Maintenance Could Cost You More Than a Repair, Especially in the SummerWorn, underinflated tires and other degraded car parts can fail in extreme heat, causing accidents. If your employer is ignoring needed repairs on company cars, there's something employees can do.
-
'Drivers License': A Wealth Strategist Helps Gen Z Hit the RoadFrom student loan debt to a changing job market, this generation has some potholes to navigate. But with those challenges come opportunities.
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Chop Up More Trump ThreatsStocks are grinding to new highs on light summer volume, and bitcoin is only getting bigger.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Procter & Gamble Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have TodayProcter & Gamble stock is a dependable dividend grower, but a disappointing long-term holding.
-
Financial Pros Provide a Beginner's Guide to Building Wealth in 10 YearsBuilding wealth over 10 years requires understanding your current financial situation, budgeting effectively, eliminating high-interest debt and increasing both your income and financial literacy.
