What to expect from Oracle’s Q1 earnings report

The ongoing transition of enterprise software provider Oracle (ORCL) into a full-fledged cloud service company is being closely watched by investors and the industry in general. Wall Street is looking for above-consensus earnings and revenues when the software giant reports its June quarter results Monday after the market closes, continuing the recent trend.

Earnings are estimated to rise to $0.69 per share in the first quarter on revenues of $9.31 billion, which is a tad higher compared to the year-ago quarter. If the actual results beat the outlook, which was reaffirmed by analysts over the last month, it might trigger a stock rally.

Wall Street is looking for above-consensus earnings and revenues when the software giant reports its June quarter results

Ever since Oracle adopted a new accounting standard last year, merging its SaaS, PaaS and IaaS cloud services with the software license division, there is lack of clarity over the revenue outlook for each segment, which is a cause for concern among investors. Going forward, the cloud business is poised to face more stringent competition, and the situation might prompt Oracle to invest in acquisitions to ramp up its already slowing cloud business.

For the fourth quarter, the Redwood City, the California-based company posted an 11% rise in adjusted earnings aided by a strong performance in the cloud segment, which more than offset the continuing softness in the traditional software licensing business.

Oracle reports earnings and revenue beat for Q4

The latest rise in earnings was much above the average growth rate seen in the recent years but fell short of the industry average. Though Oracle’s core business remains relevant even in the changed industry scenario, overall performance continues to be dragged by muted sales growth, which often reflects in the company’s guidance.

Oracle shares are currently trading broadly at the levels seen at the beginning of the year. The stock hit a peak in mid-March but retreated from the highs in the following weeks. It closed the last trading session slightly higher by 0.59% at $49.25.

Microsoft gains on dividend hike speculations