Oracle Earnings Show Weak IT and Enterprise Trends Likely to Continue

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By Jon C. Ogg Updated Published
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Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) has now reported its earnings, and we expected this to be a make or break for enterprise and large-scale IT companies. The report was 5% operating earnings growth to $0.68 in earnings per share on 4% revenue growth to $9.3 billion. Thomson Reuters had estimates for the enterprise software leader of $0.70 in earnings per share and $9.36 billion in revenue.

Oracle said that cloud software subscriptions revenues rose by 24%, while its hardware systems products revenues were up by 8% to $725 million. New software licenses and cloud software subscriptions revenues rose by 4% to $2.4 billion, while software license updates and product support revenues were up by 5% to $4.6 billion.

Another measure followed is operating margins – Non-GAAP operating income was up 5% to $4.4 billion, and the non-GAAP operating margin was 47%. Oracle said that without the impact of currencies, operating earnings growth would have been 7% rather than 5%.

Oracle maintained its $0.12 dividend, which desperately needs to be raised to be more along the lines of other established technology giants. We would remind readers that Oracle trades at only 12-times next year’s earnings per share estimates, based upon 9.5% earnings growth.

After closing at $38.84, the consensus analyst target price was almost $39.50 and the 52-week range is $29.86 to $39.85. Also, keep in mind that Oracle’s market cap is almost $175 billion.

Oracle shares were weak on the soft top-line and soft bottom-line figures. The after-hours reaction is down some 5% at $36.75 so far. Until guidance is given, consider this unfinished business. For the next quarter, those estimates are $0.96 in earnings per share and $11.5 billion in sales.

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About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

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