How Oracle Won Big on Mixed Earnings

March 15, 2017 by Chris Lange

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) reported fiscal third-quarter financial results after markets closed on Wednesday. The company posted $0.69 in earnings per share (EPS) and $9.21 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.62 in EPS and $9.26 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.64 in EPS and $9.01 billion in revenue.

Short-term deferred revenues were $7.4 billion, up 7% in U.S. dollars and constant currency compared with last year.

Cloud software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) revenues were $1.0 billion, up 73% in U.S. dollars and up 74% in constant currency. Also, total Cloud Revenues, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS), were $1.2 billion, up 62% in U.S. dollars and up 63% in constant currency. Total Cloud and On-Premise Software Revenues were $7.4 billion, up 4% in U.S. dollars and up 5% in constant currency.

Also during the quarter, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.19 per share of outstanding common stock, reflecting a 27% increase over the current quarterly dividend of $0.15. This increased dividend will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 12, 2017, with a payment date of April 26, 2017.

Safra Catz, Oracle CEO, commented:

The hyper-growth we continue to experience in the cloud has rapidly driven both our SaaS and PaaS businesses to scale. On an annualized non-GAAP basis, our total cloud business has reached the $5 billion mark, and our SaaS and PaaS businesses grew at the astonishing rate of 85% in Q3. That growth and the resulting scale enabled our SaaS and PaaS businesses to increase non-GAAP gross margins to 65%.  Our new, large, fast growing, high-margin cloud businesses are driving Oracle’s total revenue and earnings up and improving nearly every important non-GAAP business metric you care to inspect; total revenue is up, margins are up, operating income is up, net income is up, EPS is up. Take a look. Q3 was a very strong quarter.

Shares of Oracle closed Wednesday at $42.91, with a consensus analyst price target of $44.36 and a 52-week trading range of $37.62 to $43.26. Following the release of the earnings report the stock was up 3.1% at $44.35 in the after-hours trading session.

Sponsored: Attention Savvy Investors: Speak to 3 Financial Experts – FREE

Ever wanted an extra set of eyes on an investment you’re considering? Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply
clicking here
you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help guide you through the financial decisions you’re making. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.


Click here
to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.