Oracle's earnings see strength in software

Oracle reported strong fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday as database and application sales surged, but hardware system revenue was a bit light relative to expectations.

The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $3.2bn (£2bn), or 62 cents a share, on revenue of $10.8bn, up 13 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 75 cents a share. Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings of 71 cents a share on revenue of $10.75bn.

Hardware revenue was below expectations, but Oracle's core software sales performed well. New software licence revenue in the fourth quarter was up 19 percent from a year ago to $3.7bn. Software update and product support revenue was up 15 percent to $4bn. Hardware system revenue was down six percent to $1.2bn.

For fiscal 2011, Oracle reported earnings of $8.5bn, or $1.67 a share, on revenue of $35.6bn, up 33 percent from a year ago.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Oracle's fourth quarter strong, hardware sales light on ZDNet.com.