Technology

Why Oracle Could Be Headed to a Record High After Earnings

Chris Lange

Published: June 19, 2019 4:16 pm

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 3:36 am

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) reported its most recent quarterly results after markets closed Wednesday. The firm said that it had $1.16 in earnings per share (EPS) and $11.14 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that called for $1.07 in EPS and $10.95 billion in revenue. The fiscal second quarter from last year had $0.99 in EPS and $11.26 billion in revenue.

Total quarterly revenues increased by 1% and by 4% in constant currency compared to the same period last year. Cloud Services and License Support revenues totaled $6.8 billion, while Cloud License and On-Premise License revenues were $2.5 billion. Total Cloud Services and License Support plus Cloud License and On-Premise License revenues were $9.3 billion, up 3% in USD and 6% in constant currency.

At the same time, short-term deferred revenues were $8.4 billion. Operating cash flow for fiscal 2019 was $14.6 billion.

The board of directors also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.24 per share of outstanding common stock. This dividend will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 17, 2019, with a payment date of July 31.

Safra Catz, Oracle CEO, commented:

In Q4, our non-GAAP operating income grew 7% in constant currency—which drove EPS well above the high end of my guidance. Our high-margin Fusion and NetSuite cloud applications businesses are growing rapidly, while we downsize our low-margin legacy hardware business. The net result of this shift away from commodity hardware to cloud applications was a Q4 non-GAAP operating margin of 47%, the highest we’ve seen in five years.

Shares of Oracle closed at $52.69, with a 52-week range of $42.40 to $55.53. The consensus analyst price target is $53.41. Following the announcement, the stock is up nearly 6% at $55.74 in the after-hours session.