What happened
The share price of the database titan Oracle Corporation (ORCL +1.57%) increased 12.6% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after the company reported its fiscal fourth-quarter results. Though the company's growth was modest overall, investors were likely pleased to see Oracle's earnings per share and revenue outpace analysts' expectations.
So what
Oracle's share price jumped 8% toward the end of June, adding to the 4% gains earlier in the month, following the company's fourth-quarter report. Revenue grew by a conservative 1.1% to $11.14 billion, and non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) grew by 21% to $1.16, which topped analysts' consensus estimates of $10.93 billion in revenue and $1.07 in EPS.
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Oracle's revenue growth was slowed a bit by foreign currency headwinds and actually grew by 4% on a constant currency basis. Meanwhile, non-GAAP net income ticked up 3.2%.
Even with the company's modest earnings and revenue growth in the quarter, investors were still pleased to see the tech stalwart beat analysts' projections, especially considering that sales dropped 1% year over year in the previous quarter.
Now what
Oracle's management said on its quarterly earnings call that revenue is expected to grow 1% to 3% on a constant currency basis in the first quarter. But the company is expecting a 1% currency headwind that will bring total revenue growth of 0% to 2%. Additionally, non-GAAP earnings are expected to grow 14% to 16% on a constant currency basis to a range of $0.81 to $0.83 per share. All of this means that Oracle investors will likely be keeping a close eye on the company's first-quarter results to see whether the company's moderate growth can top analysts' estimates once again.
