You can almost hear PeopleSoft (NASDAQ:PSFT) President and CEO Craig Conway now: "Oh yeah? This whole Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) mess is going to derail our business? Well, take a look at this new guidance from us, you chumps!"
Or perhaps Conway would be more low-key, but that seems unlikely from this Larry Ellison protégé. Regardless, PeopleSoft surprised some doubters this morning with a rosy picture of its second quarter, ended June 30. After all, lots of analysts and other smarty-pants predicted that uncertainty surrounding PeopleSoft's future as a standalone entity would prompt businesses to postpone buying from the enterprise software outfit.
That obviously wasn't the case. PeopleSoft says it now expects total Q2 revenues of $490 million to $500 million, compared to its prior forecast of $450 million to $460 million. Analysts were looking for around $443 million. Management also anticipates that licensing revenues will range between $105 million and $115 million, better than its earlier guidance of $85 million to $95 million.
Earnings for the quarter, excluding charges of $0.03, should now come in at $0.13 to $0.14 per share, up from the company's previous forecast of $0.11 to $0.12. Analysts were expecting $0.10 per share. In the same quarter last year, PeopleSoft earned $0.11 per diluted share on total revenues of $482 million, including licensing revenues of $131.9 million.
Today's announcement doesn't confirm a turnaround in the corporate software landscape -- not yet anyway. It does, however, help bolster PeopleSoft's claim to shareholders that its business is strong, and that it can continue operating just fine without any help from Oracle.
And it sends a message to PeopleSoft customers that the company and its products are worthy of their confidence and loyalty. As far as PeopleSoft is concerned, this batch of good news couldn't have come at a better time.
