Sun's disappointing Q3: Soon to be Oracle's problem

Oracle sure is buying a mess.

In what could be Sun Microsystems final report as a public company, the company today reported a third quarter net loss of $201 million, or 27 cents per share, on revenue of $2.614 billion, missing estimates of a net loss of 19 cents per share on revenue of $2.86 billion. (Statement) The results considerably worse than the year-ago quarter, which saw a net loss of $34 million, or 4 cents per share, on sales of $3.266 billion.

The loss this quarter includes a restructuring charge of $46 million, primarily related to a  restructuring, announced back in November 2008.

Knowing that it's financial health was in jeopardy, Sun reportedly had been shopping for a buyer when news reports leaked that IBM was interested. Shortly after, talks with IBM broke down but Oracle, which reportedly worked out a deal with Sun over a matter of a few days, came in with a premium offer.

Sun will not host a conference call with analysts to discuss the quarterly results. Shares of Sun were up one cent for the day, closing at $9.16 in regular trading.

Also see: ZDNet coverage: Oracle buys Sun