Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) stock fell as much as 4% on Monday immediately after the company released mixed results for the third quarter of its 2018 fiscal year, which ended on February 28. The stock tumbled lower after executives issued guidance.
Earnings, excluding certain items, came in at 83 cents per share vs. 72 cents expected by analysts
Revenue registered $9.77 billion vs. $9.78 billion expected by analysts
In terms of guidance, CEO Safra Catz told analysts on the earnings call that she expects Oracle to report 92-95 cents per share, excluding certain items, and 1-3% revenue growth in Oracle's fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting 90 cents per share on $11.22 billion in revenue in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.
Moreover, Catz said she was looking for 19-23% growth in cloud revenue -- for cloud software, platform and infrastructure -- for the third quarter, while analysts were looking for 24.3% cloud growth for the fiscal fourth quarter.
The company had a $6.9-billion one-time charge because of tax reform, with a 16.1% tax rate, excluding certain items, for the quarter. That's down from 21.6% one year ago. The KeyBanc analysts said they thought Oracle could see gains in free cash flow and earnings per share -- four cents per share for every 1% decline in its tax rate -- as a result of the tax reform.
Shares Tuesday fumbled $4.63, or 8.9%, from Monday’s close to move into Tuesday’s first hour at $47.32
