Don't dis the flatlands. Sure, mountains and valleys make for breathtaking vistas, but let's not deny Oracle
Yes, to hear the business software giant posted second-quarter earnings of $0.10 a share on a little more than $2.3 billion in revenue, you might think it just spun off copies of last year's fiscal Q2 report at Kinko's. The results are similar. Operating margins? Those, too, came in at 34% for both second quarters.
Not impressed? There are worse things than no growth. As a matter of fact, analysts estimated earnings would dip for the November period, and the consensus was for the company to wind up with lower earnings for the second fiscal year in a row, as well.
Oracle continues to grow market share at the expense of its competition, which may seem noble now, but all this will pay dividends down the road, when the economy bounces back. The company is showing gains in upgrades and product support, but that's being offset by softer showings in service and license revenue. Let corporate confidence return to the levels in which enterprise software budgets are growing again, and Oracle will be smiling nicely.
Second only to Microsoft
Sure, the company's performance is flat right now -- but the view for the future's not bad.