Oracle Earnings Will Be 'Make Or Break' (ORCL)

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) is set to report earnings this coming Tuesday after the close and this may be one of the most important earnings reports in Larry Ellison’s future.  Last quarter was nothing short of FUBAR.  The report stank up the joint, and it is so out of character.  Wall Street had gotten used to the company beating and raising or meeting and guiding in-line, so the warning scared everyone.

In all fairness, had Oracle reported earnings even a month later the outlook might have been better.  Still it was a shocker.

While Oracle is still down nearly 20% from its 52-week highs, it is important to know that the rally has brought Oracle’s stock back to above $29.00 and over $30 briefly.  That is higher than when its earnings report took shares down from $29 or so down to about $25.50.  So the company has ridden the rally’s coattails and it has not delivered us anything yet.  It appears that SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has started winning back some of its years worth of market share.  The Sun Microsystems purchase is one that Wall Street has not caught on to favorably.

Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.56 EPS and $9.02 billion in sales; next quarter estimates are $0.76 EPS on $11.18 billion in sales.

Performance this time will be a make or break for how the company is viewed.  Many technology rivals are hitting new highs.  Around $29.75, Oracle’s 52-week range is $24.72 to $36.50.

JON C. OGG