Watch Iron Man 3 closely enough and you'll find two references to Oracle (ORCL -0.12%), the database giant that's had trouble diversifying into hardware. Will associating with a billionaire computer genius -- even a fictional one -- aid sales? CEO Larry Ellison seems to think so.
The first time Oracle appears in the film, Tony Stark asks computer assistant J.A.R.V.I.S to help him narrow a national search for clues to a crime, after which the Paul Bettany-voiced system responds that it had "engaged the Oracle cloud." The second time, a "Sun-Oracle" sign appears above Stark as he prepares to reconfigure the Internet signal of a satellite truck.
We've seen this before: Ellison appears as himself early in Iron Man 2. And why not? Ellison, like Stark, is a brash billionaire heading a tech empire. The difference is that Oracle is taking risky bets to overcome stiff competition from salesforce.com (CRM -0.02%) in the cloud and Cisco (CSCO 0.51%) in networking gear. Enjoy the hype, but don't be too quick to buy Oracle stock, says Fool contributor Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova.
Do you agree? Watch the video to get Tim's full take and then tell us what you thought of Iron Man 3 and whether you would buy, sell, or short Oracle stock at current prices.
