Oracle Beats Wall Street Estimates
Rebounding from the problems besetting the database industry, Oracle (Redwood Shores, CA) has posted a $215 million net income ($0.22 per share) for Q3 '98, up from $193 million in Q3 '97. Wall Street had expected earnings of $0.20 per share. Revenues of $1.75 billion are up 27% from a year ago. Worldwide growth is up 14% from Q3 '97, led by server sales in the Americas (up 34%) and worldwide services (up 41% from Q3 '97). Asian turmoil continues to affect Oracle, dragging down worldwide revenue growth by 6 percent. Oracle president and COO Ray Lane expressed pleasure with the company's progress, citing Oracle's "ability to focus and execute." While the positive results in the Americas reflects a successful sales force reorganization, he expects the Asian climate will continue to negatively effect results for some time.