Oracle beats Wall Street's expectations across the board with earnings up 11% (ORCL)

Oracle Safra Catz

Wall Street is unsure how to feel about Oracle following fourth quarter earnings that beat most of analysts' expectations on Tuesday, but which missed on guidance for the upcoming quarter.

Oracle shares shot up 4% in after-hours trading Tuesday, but soon took a dramatic twist up and down. By the time CEOs Safra Catz and Mark Hurd wrapped up the earnings call, in which they announced guidance, the stock was down 3.5% from its closing price.

"Last year, I forecast double-digit non-GAAP earnings per share growth for FY18 and we delivered 14% growth this year, largely driven by strong growth in our cloud businesses," said Oracle CEO Safra Catz. "Looking ahead to FY19, I expect revenue growth will enable us to deliver double-digit non-GAAP earnings per share growth once again."

Here's what Oracle reported:

Revenue for the quarter (GAAP): Oracle reported $11.26 billion, up 3% from the year before, which beat analysts' expectations of $11.19 billion.
Earnings per share for the quarter (adjusted): Oracle reported $0.99, up 11% from the year before, which beat analysts' expectations of $0.94.
Revenue for the year (GAAP): Oracle reported $39.8 billion, up 6% from 2017. Analysts expected $39.8 billion.
Earnings per share for the year (adjusted): Oracle reported $3.12. Analysts expected $3.08.
Revenue guidance (constant currency) for Q1 2019: 1% to 3% growth.
Earnings per share guidance (adjusted) for Q1 2019: $0.67 to $0.69. Analysts expected $0.72.