Compared to the previous two days, the after-hours scene tonight is relatively calm. Yet as always there are a few developments moving the needle for certain companies.
These are taking place mainly with tech stocks, in particular Oracle (ORCL 0.49%) and Apple (AAPL 0.64%). Here is what's happening lately with these two giants.
Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company's September 2019 event. Image source: Apple.
Oracle Q1: Revenue miss, CEO hiatus
Oracle reported its first set of fiscal 2020 results after the closing bell today. The database king also had some news about one of its top executives.
The company's Q1 revenue came in at $9.22 billion, which was marginally higher than what it made in the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income was $2.76 billion, or $0.81 per share. That was shy of the $2.85 billion ($0.71) the company netted in Q1 2019.
That bottom-line figure met analyst expectations. Those prognosticators, however, were collectively anticipating $9.29 billion in revenue.
Oracle pointed to the earnings-per-share growth as a particular bright spot for it during the quarter, and said it expected the trend to continue. "As our low margin hardware businesses continue to get smaller, while our higher margin cloud business continues to get bigger, we expect Oracle's operating margins, earnings per share and free cash flow all to grow," the company wrote in the earnings release.
Additionally, Oracle said its board of directors has lifted the authorization for share buybacks by $15 billion.
Finally, the company said its co-CEO Mark Hurd is taking a leave of absence for what it described as "health related reasons." It did not elaborate. Hurd will be replaced during his absence by Larry Ellison, Oracle's high-profile founder and CTO, and the other CEO, Safra Catz.
In spite of the revenue disappointment, Oracle remains a very strong performer in its corner of the tech industry. Investors don't seem too spooked by the recent performance -- perhaps they're somewhat comforted by the big increase in share repurchase authorization. Oracle stock is trading down only slightly this evening.
Apple maintains trillion-dollar market cap
Apple, which rejoined the Trillionaire's Club today when its market capitalization reached that lofty number, is adding to it this evening. The company's shares are up slightly in after-market action.
Although this is not the first time Apple has crossed the $1 trillion mark, today marks the first time in 2019 the stock has traded so richly. Not coincidentally, the boost in the share price comes after the company's latest product unveiling, in which it announced relatively bargain prices for its upcoming iPhone 11 line. This is being seen by many as a smart move to combat softening unit sales.
Additionally, investors seem pleased at the pricing of another product that's bound to find an audience -- the company's Apple TV+ streaming service. The $4.99-per-month price point makes it competitive with the likes of streaming leader Netflix and Walt Disney, a recent but powerful entrant in the segment. Some also have high hopes for the similarly priced Apple Arcade gaming subscription service.
Of course, these are new ventures and it remains to be seen just how much of an audience Apple can hook with them. Judging by the stock's recent jumps, the market is confident that the company can rope in subscribers.
