Factors Setting The Tone For Oracle's (ORCL) Q3 Earnings

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is slated to release third-quarter fiscal 2019 results on Mar 14.

Notably, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, recording average positive surprise of 6.89%.

In the last reported quarter, Oracle delivered non-GAAP earnings of 80 cents per share surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 78 cents. Revenues of $9.562 billion were almost in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.535 billion.

Earnings increased approximately 16% from the year-ago quarter (up 19% in cc). Further, revenues were almost flat year over year and increased 2% in cc.

Guidance & Estimates

For the third quarter of 2019, total revenues are anticipated to grow in the range of 2-4% in cc. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $9.59 billion.

Non-GAAP earnings are anticipated to be between 83 cents and 85 cents for the third quarter, while in constant currency non-GAAP earnings are expected to be in the range of 86 cents and 88 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 84 cents per share.

In the past year, the company’s shares have declined 0.3%, against the industry’s growth of 12.3%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Consider

Oracle is benefiting from increasing adoption of its product portfolio and synergies from strategic buyouts. Moreover, ongoing cloud-based momentum bodes well for the company’s top line.

Total cloud services and license support revenues (69% of total revenues) for the last reported quarter advanced 3% (5% in constant currency) to $6.64 billion.

Recently, Things Remembered opted for Oracle Customer Experience (“CX”) Cloud suite’s Commerce Cloud solution to enhance business, resulting in a new customer win for Oracle. The company’s focus on strengthening the comprehensive cloud-based SaaS application suites for its CX cloud offering is anticipated to drive adoption, in turn favoring the top line.

Oracle recently also introduced Oracle Retail Xstore Office Cloud Service and announced several enhancements to Retail Omnichannel suite at National Retail Federation (“NRF”) 2019. Oracle’s move to ramp up Retail Omnichannel product suite, is in sync with the company’s strategy to capitalize on the digital commerce market and strengthen competitive position against peers like Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), SAP, Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) (especially after Magento acquisition), among others.

Oracle Retail also announced collaboration with One Door in a bid to enhance retail clientele’s in-store merchandising methods with advanced assortment and layout techniques. This incremental adoption of Oracle’s services is anticipated to aid financial performance of the company in the foreseeable future.

Further, the next-generation autonomous database launched by Oracle, which is supported by machine learning, is now available. The new database is anticipated to generate incremental revenues for the company, going ahead. Management believes that the new database will improve Oracle’s competitive position in the cloud against Amazon’s cloud platform, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (“AWS”).

Additionally, traction witnessed by Oracle NetSuite bodes well. NetSuite was recently selected by UAE-based Denaster General Trading LLC. With NetSuite deployment, the retail distributor attempts to expand business beyond Middle East, particularly in the U.K. and India.

However, stiff competition in the cloud is expected to hurt margins and will make revenue growth difficult, going forward. Further, large acquisitions can negatively impact the company’s balance sheet in the form of a high level of goodwill and intangible assets. Further, lawsuits and currency volatility, owing to its transition from licensing to cloud, are likely to affect Oracle.

What Our Model Says

According to the Zacks model, a company with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) has a good chance of beating estimates if it also has a positive Earnings ESP. However, stocks carrying a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell) are best avoided. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Oraclehas an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks With a Favorable Combination

Here are some companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these stocks have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:

Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNS) has an Earnings ESP of +5.82% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV) has an Earnings ESP of +48.51% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Tencent Holding Ltd. (OTC:TCEHY) has an Earnings ESP of +3.57% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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