Oracle swings to loss because of payment tied to dispute over former CEO Hurd’s employment

Oracle shares rose 6% in extended trading on Thursday after the database software maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.

Here’s how the company did:

• Earnings: $1.21 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.11 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $10.36 billion vs. $10.21 billion as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue increased 6% year over year in the quarter, which ended Nov. 30, according to a statement.

The company swung to a net loss of $1.25 billion from net income of $2.44 billion in the year-ago quarter. It made a payment for a judgment in a decade-long dispute over former CEO Mark Hurd’s employment. Hurd joined Oracle in 2010 after serving as CEO of computer maker HP. He was later co-CEO alongside Safra Catz until he died in 2019. Catz has since held the CEO title on her own.

Oracle reported $7.55 billion in cloud services and license support revenue, up 6% year over year and just above the StreetAccount consensus of $7.54 billion.

Cloud license and on-premises license revenue totaled $1.24 billion, up 13% and above the $1.07 billion consensus.

Oracle said it had $7.9 billion in short-term deferred revenue, below the $8.29 billion consensus.

In the quarter Oracle said it would open cloud data centers in Colombia, Israel, Italy, France, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa and Sweden.

Notwithstanding the after-hours move, Oracle stock is up 37% since the start of 2021, while the S&P 500 index is up about 25% over the same period.

Executives will discuss the results with analysts and issue guidance on a conference call starting at 5 p.m. ET.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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