SAN JOSE – Oracle Corp.’s third-quarter profit jumped 30 percent, matching Wall Street’s expectations, but a sales miss sent shares of the business software maker tumbling after hours on fears the company is being pinched by falling technology spending.
Investors were also disappointed by lower-than-expected guidance for the fourth quarter in a key area of Oracle’s business – sales of new software licenses, which are important because they open the door for Oracle to sell product upgrades and maintenance services to the same clients later.
Oracle’s chief financial officer, Safra Catz, said some customers “got a little more cautious” about their spending during the third quarter, which is part of the reason the company is being cautious in its fourth-quarter guidance.
Oracle shares fell $1.76, or more than 8.4 percent, to $19.18 in heavy after-hours trading, when the price swung as low as $19. The shares had fallen 14 cents during regular trading Wednesday to close at $20.94 before the financial results were reported.
The Redwood Shores-based company said it earned $1.34 billion, or 26 cents per share, in the three months ended Feb. 29. That represents a 30 percent jump from the same period last year, when Oracle’s net income was $1.03 billion, or 20 cents per share.
Stripping out one-time expenses, Oracle earned 30 cents per share, meeting the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
Sales were 21 percent higher than a year ago but lower than analysts expected. Oracle pulled in $5.35 billion in revenue during the third quarter, far short of analysts’ forecast for $5.42 billion.
Oracle’s software revenues jumped 21 percent to $4.2 billion in the third quarter, with new software license revenues up 16 percent to $1.6 billion.
The results signaled to investors that Oracle isn’t immune from the effects of the sputtering U.S. economy, which has caused some companies to pull back on their technology spending.
Oracle makes database software for businesses and has been on a multibillion-dollar buying binge to broaden its offerings.
Oracle executives acknowledged on a conference call with analysts that economic uncertainty had prompted some customers to delay buying decisions or require additional approval before the deals could go through.
“Deals are getting done, although they took a little longer than anticipated later in the quarter,” Catz said.
Oracle expects net income of 43 cents or 44 cents per share in the fourth quarter, excluding one-time charges, and sales are expected to increase 15 percent to 19 percent over last year. Both estimates fall within the range of what analysts were expecting.
The company, however, tempered its guidance for sales of new software licenses, which are expected to grow between 10 percent and 20 percent over last year.
There could be “quite a bit of upside, but we want to be cautious,” Catz said.
