Oracle Reports 18 Percent Revenue Growth In Its Fiscal First Quarter Thanks To Cloud Strength and Its Acquisition of Cerner

Computer software company Oracle reported an 18 percent growth in quarterly revenue, thanks to a significant contribution from its recent acquisition Cerner and increased cloud strength. The company reported revenue that met estimates but earnings for the quarter fell slightly short of analysts’ estimates.

For the fiscal first quarter, Oracle reported adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share, falling short of the $1.07 per share that analysts had expected. Revenue for the quarter, on the other hand, came in at $11.45 billion. This was exactly what analysts had expected, according to Refinitiv.

According to a statement Oracle shared, revenue growth in the quarter ended August 31st soared from the 5 percent it reported in the previous quarter. Revenue growth had a significant contribution from the company’s recent acquisition Cerner which it closed during the quarter. Oracle received a $1.4 billion contribution from Cerner after acquiring it for $28 billion.

In the fiscal first quarter, revenue declined to $1.55 billion from $2.46 billion reported in the same period a year ago. The company noted that it would have had 8 cents more adjusted earnings per share but the unfavorable foreign exchange rates were a challenge. 

The company’s cloud services and license-support segment reported $8.42 billion in revenue. This is up 14 percent and surpassed analysts’ estimates of $8.27 billion, according to StreetAccount.

According to CEO Safra Catz, the company’s applications and infrastructure cloud businesses now take up more than 30 percent of total revenue. Revenue from cloud infrastructure soared 52 percent to $900 million in the quarter.

Following its Cerner acquisition, Oracle announced the availability of its database software through Microsoft’s Azure public cloud which runs on Oracle’s own cloud infrastructure. 

The company expects adjusted earnings per share of between $1.16 and $1.20 and between 15 percent and 17 percent in revenue growth for the fiscal second quarter. Analysts on the other hand project adjusted earnings per share of $1.27 and revenue of $12.17 billion which would imply an 18 percent growth, for the next quarter.