Oracle Corp fared far better than analysts anticipated in its fiscal second quarter, easing worries that the sagging US economy and slowing corporate spending on technology would drag down the business software maker.
The firm said on Wednesday that it earned US$1.3 billion, or US$0.25 per share, for the three months ended Nov. 30. That represented a 35 percent increase from net income of US$967 million, or US$0.18 per share, at the same time last year.
If not for stock option expenses and the costs incurred in recent acquisitions, Oracle said it would have earned US$0.31 per share -- US$0.04 per share above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Revenue totaled US$5.31 billion, a 28 percent improvement from the US$4.16 billion posted last year. Analysts, on average, had projected that revenue would be US$5.04 billion.
Even more important to Wall Street, Oracle's sales of software licenses climbed by 38 percent to US$1.67 billion.
Analysts had predicted gains in the 20 percent range.
Software sales are closely watched because new licenses establish a pipeline for future revenue from product upgrades and maintenance.
Oracle shares fell US$0.49 to finish Wednesday's regular trading at US$20.76, then bounced back US$0.74 in extended trading after the company's quarterly results were released.
"It was a very strong quarter, based on just about every metric you can think of," Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry said.
Oracle has been on a roll through most of the past two years, reaping the benefits of a shopping spree that has turned it into a one-stop shop for database software and applications that automate a wide variety of business operations.
By spending more than US$25 billion snapping up its smaller rivals since 2004, Oracle has created the software industry's equivalent of a Costco warehouse, Cowen and Company analyst Peter Goldmacher said.
"Oracle looks to be better positioned than just about all its competitors," Goldmacher said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS