What to Expect From Oracle Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 8:10AM EST · Published Sep 14, 11:50AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

What to Expect From Oracle Earnings — © Thinkstock

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the markets close on Thursday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $0.60 in earnings per share (EPS) and $9.03 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $0.55 in EPS and revenue of $8.61 billion.

Following the previous quarterly report, Merrill Lynch took a very bullish stance on Oracle, at the time saying that its business is poised for an inflection point to potentially deliver mid-single-digit software revenue growth and operating income going forward. This was more or less validated by a stronger than expected May quarter on multiple fronts.

Ultimately, Merrill Lynch has a Buy rating and one of the higher targets on the street at $62. Since the company reported last, the stock is actually up about 14%.

[nativounit]

The brokerage firm went on to say:

A key issue had been a plethora of reported metrics from legacy/cloud businesses which carried inherent risks of not being able to satisfy all constituents. Our belief that simplification into distinct businesses would be a positive — Apps and Platform – was validated by Oracle’s decision to re-segment. We believe Oracle, by transitioning its ~15K ERP customers @ 2-3 Cloud modules @$300K annual contract value + current run-rate of $4bn and assuming 50% conversion of its pipeline of 8K customers could potentially drive towards a $15bn SaaS revenue stream. As a result of GM/OM improvement, ORCL is poised to grow pfEPS/FCF high single digits in F18, reversing 3 years of declines.

[recirclink id=412933]

A few other analysts recently weighed in on Oracle:

Drexel Hamilton has a Buy rating with a $62 price target.
RBC has an Outperform rating with a $56 price target.
Rosenblatt has a Buy rating with a $58 price target.
Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a $62 price target.
Stifel has a Buy rating with a $52 price target.
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $60 price target.
KeyCorp has a Buy rating with a $61 price target.

So far in 2017, Oracle has outperformed the U.S. broad markets, with the stock up 37%. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up only about 31%.

Shares of Oracle were last seen trading at $52.80, with a consensus analyst price target of $55.03 and a 52-week range of $37.62 to $53.14.

[wallst_email_signup]

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.