On Tuesday, business software giant Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) released Q1 2007 earnings for the period ended Aug. 31.

  • Its sales growth -- 26% -- is very impressive for a company as big as Oracle. According to Capital IQ, only 22 of the 298 companies with revenues above $2.7 billion in the year-ago quarter can match or beat Oracle's 26% top-line, year-over-year growth.
  • Margins haven't moved much from last year, but that's actually a good thing, considering the broad-spectrum drop in margins in the interim.
  • Cash flow growth isn't quite keeping up with sales or earnings, but 12% is still a respectable increase and an indication of a healthy business overall.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights*

Avg. Est.

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Sales

$3,470

$3,661

$2,907

25.9%

Net Profit

--

$931

$738

26.2%

EPS

$0.16

$0.18

$0.14

28.6%

Diluted Shares

--

5314

5244

1.3%
*Based on pro forma numbers provided by the company, to keep comparisons with estimates fair.

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

73.45%

75.23%

(1.83)

Operating Margin

36.00%

35.16%

(0.84)

Net Margin

25.43%

25.39%

(0.04)
*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$8,298

$4,632

79.1%

Accounts Rec.

$2,118

$1,651

28.3%

Inventory

No Data

No Data

No Data



Liabilities

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$223

$228

(2.2%)

Long-Term Debt

$5,737

$1,679*

241.7%
*Including $1,522 million of short-term and current long-term debt in Q1 2006.

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash From Ops.

$1,623

$1,458

11.3%

Capital Expenditures

$49

$52

(5.8%)

Free Cash Flow

$1,574

$1,406

11.9%


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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, Fool contributor Anders Bylund had positions in none of these companies. Fool rules are here.