Oracle (ORCL) Shares Lifted in After Hours On Better Than Expected Sales in Its Cloud Business

June 16, 2016 -


Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) shares were up 1.79 percent to $39.33 in after hours trading Thursday after the company reported quarterly earnings that met analysts' expectations. Sales were better than expected as the company booked more customers and expanded margins in its cloud business.

The enterprise technology company posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share of 81 cents U.S., compared to 78 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the quarter came in at $10.59 billion U.S., against the comparable year-ago figure of $10.71 billion.

Analysts expected Oracle to report earnings of 81 cents U.S. per share on revenue of $10.47 billion.

Oracle CEO Mark Hurd told the media the company added more than 1,600 new software-as-a-service (SaaS) customers and more than 2,000 new platform-as-a-service (PaaS) customers in the quarter.

Oracle concluded trading Thursday at $38.64 U.S., up 20 cents from Wednesday's close, within a 52-week trading range of $33.13 to $45.24 U.S.