Oracle’s Outlook Lowered to Negative

Oracle Corp. had its credit outlook lowered to “negative” from “stable” by Moody’s Investors Service because the company may have to raise its offer for rival PeopleSoft Inc.

Moody’s affirmed its A3 ratings on about $300 million of Oracle debt. Moody’s said it would consider lowering its ratings if Oracle substantially increases its offer for PeopleSoft and if Oracle doesn’t reduce costs enough to make up for lower revenue as it stops selling PeopleSoft products.

Shares of Oracle rose 25 cents to $13.27 on Nasdaq. PeopleSoft fell 28 cents to $17.62.