Oracle fell Friday after missing revenue estimates and reporting lower than expected license sales.
Earnings of 8 cents a share met estimates, but revenues of $2.07 billion missed $2.14 billion estimates, and license revenues fell 7% when they were expected to rise by as much.
The company blamed short-term execution problems and seasonal weakness, and CEO Larry Ellison said “this is not the start of a new trend. Demand is not slowing.”
Still, the company’s forward guidance was a little shaky, with a forecast of total revenue growth of 2-5%, license revenues ranging from -3% to +7%, and earnings of 10-11 cents a share (estimates were for 11 cents).
Soundview and other analysts came to the company’s defense, saying they expect a strong rebound next quarter, but Oracle’s stock finished the day down 3.3%.
The broader market rebounded from an early sell-off on lower than expected Michigan consumer sentiment and retail sales reports.
The Nasdaq rose 8 to 1855, the S&P 500 climbed 2 to 1018, and the Dow added 11 to 9471. Volume declined to 1.24 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.7 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 19-12 on the NYSE, and 17-13 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 58% on the NYSE, and 47% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 107-13 on the NYSE, and 169-4 on the Nasdaq.
Microsoft rose 1.8% after doubling its dividend.
Interwoven climbed 5% on a positive mention in BusinessWeek.
XM Satellite Radio climbed 1% on a secondary stock offering.
SBC , up 0.6%, sold its banking software business.
Informatica slipped on an acquisition.
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