# How Oracle (ORCL) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/orcl
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on ORCL alone. It places ORCL (Oracle Corporation) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where ORCL stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: ORCL's full trading record, from October 1986 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** ORCL has gone against the market, falling 25.6% over the past 6 months while the S&P 500 rose 9.1%. The slide is ORCL's own: it is 59.5% below its high, against 1.3% for the S&P 500.
- **Stock or market?:** ORCL's 8.4% gain over the past 3 months is part of a broader enterprise software rally: the enterprise software ETF IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF) rose 15.0%, with MSFT (Microsoft, up 32.5%) and PLTR (Palantir Technologies, up 42.8%). Its enterprise software peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: SAP rose 44.6%, while DDOG (Datadog) fell 2.6%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, ORCL fell 52.1% while the S&P 500 rose 15.8%. The same gap shows up over 3 years (33.3% against 89.3%). Even so, ORCL lagged its enterprise software peers in 2023, then moved up the pack in 2025.
- **Long term:** ORCL turned $10,000 into $40,000 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. On the flip side, year by year, ORCL has outpaced the S&P 500 62% of the time since 1997.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, ORCL has typically fallen 1.2 times as far as the S&P 500. In the 2022 bear market, ORCL fell 31.0%, against 24.5% for the S&P 500. That was more than IBM (International Business Machines, 16.7%) but less than PLTR (Palantir Technologies, 63.1%).
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, ORCL has a correlation of 0.60 over 5 years, more closely than 90% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is some diversification, but not a hedge.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** GOOG (Alphabet), MSFT (Microsoft) and IBM (International Business Machines) earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years. GOOG returned 19.0% a year at 32.0% volatility, against 7.7% a year at 44.3%.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** TSM (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, semiconductors) and V (Visa, payment processing) earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years. TSM returned 31.5% a year at 38.5% volatility, against 7.7% a year at 44.3%.
  - **Whole market:** 1,076 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them AAPL (Apple), GOOG (Alphabet) and MSFT (Microsoft).

## How much would $10,000 in ORCL have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in ORCL over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of ORCL over the same span and ORCL's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in ORCL at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $284,972 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the seven other investments on the chart ended ahead of ORCL, and AMZN finished highest, at $11,484,924.

## ORCL at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- ORCL is still 59.5% below its all-time high.
- ORCL's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 84.2%, from September 2000 to June 2002. It took about 12 years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, ORCL's best was 1999, when it returned 290%, and its worst was 2001, when it lost 52.5%. It lost money in nine of those years.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Software - Infrastructure)
- Trading since: October 20, 1986
- Market value: $396B
- Volatility (5 years): 44.3%; Sharpe ratio: 0.38
- Worst decline ever: −84.2%, from September 1, 2000 to June 3, 2002; back at its high by December 18, 2014

| Period | ORCL total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −11.4% |
| 3 months | +8.4% |
| 6 months | −25.6% |
| year to date | −32.1% |
| 1 year | −52.1% |
| 3 years | +33.3% |
| 5 years | +45.1% |
| 10 years | +300% |

## ORCL against the whole market

Where ORCL ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does ORCL rank among all stocks?

This section ranks ORCL on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- ORCL's 1-year return ranks in the bottom 5% of the 3,287 stocks worth at least $300 million with 1 year of history.

| Measure | ORCL | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | −52.1% | 3,128 of 3,287 (top 96%) |
| 3-year return | +33.3% | 1,795 of 3,017 (top 60%) |
| 5-year return | +45.1% | 1,144 of 2,893 (top 40%) |
| 10-year return | +300% | 587 of 2,202 (top 27%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 44.3% | 1,666 of 2,893 (top 58%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.38 | 1,279 of 2,893 (top 45%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −64.6% | 1,074 of 2,187 (top 50%) |

### What has beaten ORCL on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 631 stocks and 445 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than ORCL over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 30% of the 3,633 screened.
- Among those with at least half ORCL's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, 44% less than ORCL's 44.3%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.55 against 0.38 for ORCL. INSW earned the most, 56.5% a year, while still swinging less than ORCL (40.5% against 44.3%).
- Among ORCL's popular alternatives, GOOG, IBM and MSFT are in the region. GOOG earned 19.0% a year against 7.7% a year for ORCL, at 32.0% volatility, 28% less than ORCL's 44.3%.

### Is there a better investment than ORCL?

The table below lists investments that beat ORCL over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among ORCL's popular alternatives, GOOG, MSFT and IBM earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years. GOOG returned 19.0% a year at 32.0% volatility, against 7.7% a year at 44.3%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, TSM (semiconductors) and V (payment processing) earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years. TSM returned 31.5% a year at 38.5% volatility, against 7.7% a year at 44.3%.
- Across the whole market, 1,076 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them AAPL, GOOG and MSFT.

The 15 strongest of 1,076 investments that beat ORCL over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with ORCL | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ORCL: Oracle Corporation (this page) |  | +7.7% | 44.3% | 0.38 | −64.6% | +300% |  |  |
| [RY](https://easycompare.io/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | Banks | +17.3% | 18.2% | 0.97 | −40.0% | +352% | 0.11 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +42.1% | 24.7% | 1.55 | −46.1% | +349% | 0.03 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [AAPL](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl): Apple Inc. | Computer Hardware | +18.5% | 28.0% | 0.75 | −38.5% | +1,168% | 0.45 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [LLY](https://easycompare.io/research/lly): Eli Lilly and Company | Pharmaceuticals | +40.7% | 32.8% | 1.21 | −34.5% | +1,807% | 0.11 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [VTI](https://easycompare.io/research/vti): Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF | US Total Market | +11.5% | 17.5% | 0.71 | −35.0% | +302% | 0.58 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [VOO](https://easycompare.io/research/voo): Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | US Large-Cap Equity | +12.8% | 16.9% | 0.80 | −34.0% | +324% | 0.60 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [WMT](https://easycompare.io/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +20.8% | 22.6% | 0.96 | −25.7% | +508% | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [BRK-B](https://easycompare.io/research/brk-b): Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | Insurance | +13.4% | 17.1% | 0.82 | −29.6% | +274% | 0.07 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [JPM](https://easycompare.io/research/jpm): JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Banks | +17.3% | 24.3% | 0.78 | −43.6% | +537% | 0.30 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [ABBV](https://easycompare.io/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Pharmaceuticals | +26.1% | 23.4% | 1.11 | −45.1% | +603% | -0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [JNJ](https://easycompare.io/research/jnj): Johnson & Johnson | Pharmaceuticals | +12.7% | 17.9% | 0.76 | −27.4% | +196% | -0.16 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | International Equity | +17.0% | 11.1% | 1.48 | −32.4% | +194% | 0.04 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [KO](https://easycompare.io/research/ko): The Coca-Cola Company | Food & Beverages | +14.7% | 16.8% | 0.91 | −37.0% | +204% | -0.08 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [CVX](https://easycompare.io/research/cvx): Chevron Corporation | Integrated Oil & Gas | +19.5% | 25.2% | 0.84 | −55.8% | +238% | 0.11 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |

## ORCL against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against ORCL, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do ORCL's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Five of the 20 popular alternatives, led by GOOG, IBM and MSFT, were both more rewarding and calmer than ORCL over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, ORCL returned 7.7% a year, less than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (44.3% against 17.1%).

### Has ORCL consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares ORCL with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- 11 of the 20 popular alternatives, led by MSFT, NVDA and DELL, outperformed ORCL in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- MSFT, NVDA and DELL outperformed ORCL in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- DELL, GOOG and IBM earned more for the risk they took than ORCL (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in their worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of ORCL | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ORCL: Oracle Corporation (this page) | −52.1% | +33.3% | +45.1% | +300% |  |  | 0.38 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | +3.8% | +66.6% | +80.3% | +946% | 5/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.56 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | +18.8% | +425% | +884% | +13,019% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.14 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | +217% | +636% | +800% | +3,701% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.08 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | +31.2% | +148% | +138% | +752% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.71 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +21.3% | +110% | +53.8% | +548% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.42 |
| [NOW](https://easycompare.io/research/now): ServiceNow, Inc. | −18.5% | +37.8% | +9.8% | +848% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.27 |
| [SAP](https://easycompare.io/research/sap): SAP SE | −16.6% | +81.3% | +72.6% | +205% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.52 |
| [IBM](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm): International Business Machines Corporation | −12.5% | +93.5% | +116% | +151% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.66 |
| NTNX: Nutanix, Inc. | −0.1% | +90.0% | +88.3% | +139% | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.50 |
| [PLTR](https://easycompare.io/research/pltr): Palantir Technologies Inc. | +6.1% | +1,096% | +695% | — | 5/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.95 |
| [DDOG](https://easycompare.io/research/ddog): Datadog, Inc. | +64.1% | +198% | +61.4% | — | 4/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.45 |
| [SNOW](https://easycompare.io/research/snow): Snowflake Inc. | +30.1% | +116% | −4.3% | — | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.29 |
| [EQIX](https://easycompare.io/research/eqix): Equinix, Inc. | +22.2% | +49.1% | +37.4% | +226% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.37 |
| HUBS: HubSpot, Inc. | −44.5% | −41.6% | −68.5% | +377% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | -0.11 |
| [CRM](https://easycompare.io/research/crm): Salesforce, Inc. | −3.9% | +21.3% | −14.8% | +240% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.12 |
| [ADBE](https://easycompare.io/research/adbe): Adobe Inc. | −25.2% | −52.5% | −59.4% | +135% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.28 |
| [WDAY](https://easycompare.io/research/wday): Workday, Inc. | −15.4% | −3.4% | −26.4% | +132% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.06 |
| ESTC: Elastic N.V. | +14.1% | +20.1% | −43.3% | — | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.11 |
| MDB: MongoDB, Inc. | +11.8% | +5.7% | −27.4% | — | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.26 |
| [INTU](https://easycompare.io/research/intu): Intuit Inc. | −48.9% | −32.1% | −38.8% | +237% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.06 |

### How did ORCL do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where ORCL ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- ORCL finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 17 of its 29 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, MDB came out ahead of ORCL most often, in six of the eight years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, ORCL finished in the top quarter in five of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in seven. In 2025, it ranked 7 of 21.

| Year | ORCL | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +18.1% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +60.0% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +30.9% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −4.7% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +36.9% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +24.3% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +19.4% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −3.0% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +24.9% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +6.9% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How ORCL has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were ORCL's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all three of ORCL's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: ORCL fell 64.6% from September 2025 to July 2026, while the S&P 500 rose 14.5%.
- The slowest recovery came after ORCL fell 84.2% from September 2000 to June 2002; it did not regain that peak until December 2014, 12 years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −84.2% | September 1, 2000 | June 3, 2002 | December 18, 2014 | −30.1% | dot-com bust |
| −80.9% | March 19, 1990 | October 29, 1990 | December 29, 1992 | — |  |
| −64.6% | September 10, 2025 | July 24, 2026 | not yet | +14.5% |  |
| −56.1% | August 19, 1997 | January 12, 1998 | December 23, 1998 | +2.0% |  |
| −55.0% | October 5, 1987 | October 26, 1987 | June 9, 1988 | — |  |

### How did ORCL do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far ORCL, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- None of its popular alternatives fell less than ORCL in most of the crashes they both traded through.
- ORCL fell further than the S&P 500 in six of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when ORCL fell 84.2% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.

| Crash | Dates | ORCL fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −84.2% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −41.1% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −2.1% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −23.9% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −16.1% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −6.6% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −17.2% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −28.3% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −31.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −5.0% | −3.4% |

### How closely does ORCL move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- DELL took just 43% of the S&P 500's losses, against 159% for ORCL, while still keeping 154% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, ORCL captured 131% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 159% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.30. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- Seven of the 15 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than ORCL's 0.82, led by DELL, NVDA and NOW.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ORCL: Oracle Corporation (this page) | 131% | 159% | 1.30 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | 127% | 91.0% | 0.96 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | 248% | 140% | 1.83 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | 154% | 43.0% | 1.13 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | 132% | 110% | 1.12 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | 134% | 139% | 1.31 |
| [NOW](https://easycompare.io/research/now): ServiceNow, Inc. | 114% | 79.0% | 0.97 |
| [SAP](https://easycompare.io/research/sap): SAP SE | 112% | 152% | 1.10 |
| [IBM](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm): International Business Machines Corporation | 89.0% | 121% | 0.95 |
| NTNX: Nutanix, Inc. | 68.0% | 91.0% | 1.20 |
| [EQIX](https://easycompare.io/research/eqix): Equinix, Inc. | 76.0% | 66.0% | 0.67 |
| HUBS: HubSpot, Inc. | 121% | 149% | 1.46 |
| [CRM](https://easycompare.io/research/crm): Salesforce, Inc. | 115% | 143% | 1.16 |
| [ADBE](https://easycompare.io/research/adbe): Adobe Inc. | 123% | 184% | 1.24 |
| [WDAY](https://easycompare.io/research/wday): Workday, Inc. | 96.0% | 139% | 1.19 |
| [INTU](https://easycompare.io/research/intu): Intuit Inc. | 99.0% | 126% | 1.03 |

### What diversifies ORCL?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in ORCL into LVHI would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 20% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+11.0% for ORCL alone, +14.1% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of ORCL over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.22 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- MCK made money in five of the nine calendar years in which ORCL lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with ORCL | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in ORCL's 9 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.04 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 9 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.22 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 9 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.21 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 1 of 9 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.17 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 1 of 9 |
| FTLS: First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF | 0.48 | +62.9% | 10.4% | 0.99 | 1 of 9 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.46 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 2 of 9 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.31 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 1 of 9 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.09 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 3 of 9 |

## Common questions

### What was ORCL's worst drawdown?

ORCL's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 84.2%, from September 2000 to June 2002. It took about 12 years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were ORCL's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, ORCL's best year was 1999, when it returned 290%. Its worst was 2001, with a return of -52.5%.

### Is there a better investment than ORCL?

Among ORCL's popular alternatives, GOOG, MSFT and IBM earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years. GOOG returned 19.0% a year at 32.0% volatility, against 7.7% a year at 44.3%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, TSM (semiconductors) and V (payment processing) earned more than ORCL with less volatility over the past 5 years. TSM returned 31.5% a year at 38.5% volatility, against 7.7% a year at 44.3%.

### Is ORCL more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. ORCL's volatility over the past 5 years was 44.3%, 2.6 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, ORCL's return lands within 44.3% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is ORCL's Sharpe ratio?

ORCL's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.38, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so ORCL earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is ORCL with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, ORCL's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.60 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against ORCL instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a ORCL holding.

### What are the best alternatives to ORCL?

Of the 20 popular alternatives we compared, 11 outperformed ORCL in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: MSFT, NVDA and DELL.

### Did ORCL outperform the S&P 500?

ORCL finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 17 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +18.1%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did ORCL do in stock market crashes?

ORCL fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in six. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when ORCL fell 84.2% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.

### What diversifies ORCL?

These had a low correlation with ORCL over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.04), DXJ (correlation 0.22) and EMLP (correlation 0.21); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.03), CLS (correlation 0.38) and FIX (correlation 0.29). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msft)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Dell Technologies (DELL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/dell)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)
- [Amazon.com (AMZN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn)
- [ServiceNow (NOW) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/now)
- [SAP Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/sap)
- [International Business Machines (IBM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm)
- [Palantir Technologies (PLTR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/pltr)
- [Datadog (DDOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/ddog)
- [Snowflake (SNOW) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/snow)
- [Equinix (EQIX) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/eqix)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/orcl
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against ORCL live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=ORCL&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research