Optimism surrounds Oracle (ORCL), as it gets ready to report its second quarter results on Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Analysts are expecting Oracle to book a profit of 55 cents a share, up from 49 cents a year ago.
What to Expect:
The consensus estimate hasn't changed over the past month, but it's up from three months ago when it was 54 cents. Analysts are expecting earnings of $2.33 for the fiscal year per share.
Revenue is projected to be 7.6% above the year-earlier total of $8.58 billion at $9.23 billion for the quarter. Revenue is projected to roll in at $38.65 billion for the year.
Analyst Ratings:
The majority of analysts (83.8%) rate Oracle as a buy. This compares favorably to the analyst ratings of its nearest 10 competitors, which average 62.1% buys. Analysts have become more cautious about the stock recently and the number of buy ratings has dropped slightly over the past three months.
Trends to Watch For:
The company has reported double-digit revenue increases for the past four quarters. Over that period, revenue has grown by an average of 27.1%. The biggest boost came in the second quarter of the last fiscal year when revenue increased 46.5% year over year.
For three straight quarters, the company has seen net income rise. In the most recent quarter, profit increased 36.1% year over year. Going back two quarters, net income rose 35.8% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 78% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year.
Competitors:
Oracle is an enterprise software giant that provides a range of tools for managing business data, supporting business operations, and facilitating collaboration and application development. One of Oracle's main competitors in the software industry, Microsoft (MSFT), will report earnings on January 19, 2012. Other competitors in the information technology sector include: International Business Machines (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), SAP (SAP).
Recent Price Movement:
The stock price has risen from $29.17 on September 16, 2011 to $29.87 over the past quarter.
Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.
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