Is Oracle Just Another Cash Cow?

From The Motley Fool

By Sarfaraz A. Khan
Research Assistant: G. Yousuf
Includes Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM)

A week ago, Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported quarterly results that missed analysts’ estimates by a small margin. The shareholders reacted negatively, and the company's shares dropped by 9.3% the following day. To help, the company has announced cloud computing deals with some of its biggest rivals. 

Earnings

The computer hardware and software company’s sales remained largely flat, showing an increase of just 0.3% from the same quarter last year to $10.95 billion, which were below analysts’ estimates of $11.12 billion. Oracles sales improved by just 2.4% in

Which 3-D Printing Company Should You Choose?

From The Motley Fool
By Sarfaraz A. Khan
Research Assistant G. Yousuf

The online retail behemoth Amazon has given a mainstream boost to the latest manufacturing revolution, 3-D printers, by launching a dedicated section for 3-D printers under its industrial and scientific department. In this section customers can shop for printers, printer filament, software, accessories, and books related to 3-D printing.

The office-supply store Staples is already selling 3D Systems’ (NYSE: DDD) consumer printer called Cube. Amazon, on other hand, is the official reseller of MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3-D printer. Amazon, like others, believes that although the 3-D technology is exciting and looks promising, it still has a long way to go and requires the support of larger corporations.

The 3-D printing market is getting consolidated to two main firms: 3D Systems and Stratasys(NASDAQ: SSYS). Both of these were the top-performing stocks in 2012 with 3D Systems increasing by 270%, while Stratasys rose by 158% in the 12 months ending December 2012. This year, the growth of the two traditional 3-D stocks has been relatively modest, but a new entrant, ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE) is feeding the market’s appetite and its stock has risen by 93% this year.