Oracle Reports Fourth Quarter Profit

Oracle Corporation (ORCL) stated on Tuesday, in a public announcement, fourth-quarter profits rose 23% from a year ago. The large software producer attributed the gains to increased sales of new software contracts and from increased market share.

Audio Podcast:
An audio podcast of this article is available at: poweropt.com/podcasts/2007_06_27_ORCL.mp3

In totality, Oracle stated it earned $1.6 billion, or 31 cents a share. Last year, the company earned $1.3 billion, or 24 cents a share. Revenue increased around 20% to over $5 billion from last year’s $4.85 billion.

New software sales drove the earnings increase, Oracle said. In totality, software sales rose 17% from a year ago. Oracle was not specific on the amount of its growth attributable to the company’s own operations and how much could be attributed to recent acquisitions. One recent acquisition was its move to buy Hyperion Solutions in May for $3.3 billion. This blog covered the acquisition in a March article entitled, “Oracle (ORCL) Acquires Hyperion (HYSL) in Competitive Move Against SAP AG”

Oracle has not shied away from its fiercely competitive stance against competitors such as IBM and SAP. The CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison, noted in the announcement a recent industry study showing Oracle with 47% of the market for database software while IBM (IBM) enjoys but a paltry 21%. But the jibes didn’t stop there, company president, Charles Phillips noted Oracle grew 32% in new application software sales while SAP (SAP) merely grew 10%. His bravado was palatable as he bellowed, “Oracle is clearly beating SAP’s strategy of trying to build everything themselves using a 1970s-era proprietary programming language.”

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Potential Trades:
All of the following option trades have 53 days until expiration. These trades were discovered using the powerful suite of option search tools found at PowerOptions.

SAP – The SAP trade involves the August $50 call option and offers 4.9% downside protection and 4.2% potential profit if the stock is above the $50 strike price at the end of the option period. The stock is currently trading at $50.44.

ORCL – The Oracle trade involves the August $19 call option and offers 4.7% downside protection and 4.1% potential profit if the stock is above the $19 strike price at the end of the option period. The stock is currently trading at $19.16.

Competitors:
Competitors for SAP include: International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Agile Software Corp. (AGIL), Ariba Inc. (ARBA), Aspen Tech. Inc. (AZPN), CDC Corp. (CHINA), Concur Techs. Inc. (CNQR), Epicor Software Corp. (EPIC), Itron Inc. (ITRI), i2 Technologies Inc. (ITWO), JDA Software Group Inc. (JDAS), Kronos Inc. (KRON), Lawson Software Inc. (LWSN), Optimal Robotics Corp. (OPMR), and RightNow Techs. Inc. (RNOW).
Competitors for ORCL include: International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), SAP AG (SAP), Ariba Inc. (ARBA), BEA Systems Inc. (BEAS), CDC Corp. (CHINA), Concur Techs. Inc. (CNQR), Cognos Inc. (COGN), salesforce.com Inc. (CRM), Dendrte International Inc. (DRTE), Epicor Software Corp. (EPIC), i2 Technologies Inc. (ITWO), JDA Software Group Inc. (JDAS), Kronos Inc. (KRON), Lawson Software Inc. (LWSN), Manhattan Assoc. Inc. (MANH), Progress Software Corp. (PRGS), Quest Software Inc. (QSFT), RightNow Techs. Inc. (RNOW), and Sybase Inc. (SY).
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