1 Tech Stock To Count On In 2023

Software giant Oracle Corporation’s (ORCL) second-quarter revenue and EPS exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. The company’s EPS was 3.2% above the consensus estimate, while its revenue beat analyst estimates by 2.1%.

The strength in cloud infrastructure and cloud-based applications drove a solid topline performance.

Its total cloud revenue, including infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS), rose 48% year-over-year in constant currency to $3.80 billion.

IaaS revenue increased 59% year-over-year in constant currency to $1 billion.

Without the impact of the foreign-exchange rates, ORCL’s adjusted EPS would have been 9 cents higher.

ORCL’s CEO, Safra Catz, said, “In Q2, Oracle’s total revenue grew 25% in constant currency-exceeding the high end of our guidance by more than $200 million. That strong overall revenue growth was powered by our infrastructure and applications cloud businesses that grew 59% and 45%, respectively, in constant currency.”

“Fusion Cloud ERP grew 28% in constant currency, NetSuite Cloud ERP grew 29% in constant currency- each and every one of our strategic businesses delivered solid revenue growth in the quarter,” she added.

For fiscal 2023, the company expects its cloud revenue to grow more than 30% in constant currency compared to the 22% growth in fiscal 2022.

ORCL expects its revenue to rise 17% to 19% on a reported basis and 21% and 23% on a constant currency basis in the third quarter. Also, it expects adjusted EPS for the third quarter to be between $1.17 and $1.21, lower than the consensus estimate of $1.24.

ORCL’s stock has gained 13.3% in price over the past three months and 13.6% over the past six months to close the last trading session at $88.46.

The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.32 on January 24, 2023. Its annual dividend of $1.28 yields 1.45% on the current share price. It has a four-year average yield of 1.59%.

Its dividend payouts have increased at a 10.1% CAGR over the past three years and an 11% CAGR over the past five years. The company has grown its dividend payments for eight consecutive years.

Here’s what could influence ORCL’s performance in the upcoming months:

Steady Topline Growth

ORCL’s total revenues increased 18.5% year-over-year to $12.27 billion for the second quarter that ended November 30, 2022.

The company’s non-GAAP operating income increased 4.8% year-over-year to $5.08 billion. Its non-GAAP net income declined 2% year-over-year to $3.31 billion. Continue reading "1 Tech Stock To Count On In 2023"