Cowen analyst J. Derrick Wood raised its price target on Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) to $48.00 (from $46.00) while maintaining a Outperform rating, suggesting the mechanics for EPS growth acceleration are in place for next 2 years, as the company reported solid third quarter results.

Wood comments, "ORCL reports a solid 3Q w/ Software rev line items all slightly above; upside on op margin and big $0.07 EPS beat w/ favorable tax. While this absorbs some of the EPS growth springboard we were expecting in FY18, we now see a path of more gradual EPS uplift, leading to EPS growth acceleration in both FY18 & FY19. We think this backdrop continues to support multiple expansion. Increasing PT to $48."