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To: Sonki who wrote (24951)	12/14/1999 8:34:00 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 27012

Dear Sonki, Oracle had blow-out earnings. 26 cents vs First Call's 22 cents Do you think it will help the Nas tomorrow? Best wishes, Mephisto Oracle whizzes past profit target By Mike Tarsala, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 7:29 PM ET Dec 14, 1999 REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Oracle Corp. on Tuesday reported per-share earnings of 26 cents on total revenue of $2.3 billion -- breezing past analysts' profit expectations. In after-hours trading, shares of Oracle jumped as high as 84 vs. a closing price of 76 15 1/16 in the regular session. In per-share terms, the fiscal first-quarter profit was 19 cents better than the database-software titan reported in the year-ago period, and it whizzed past the consensus estimate of 22 cents. Overall earnings for the period rose 40 percent to $384 million from $274 million. Revenue jumped 10 percent from $2.1 billion in the year-ago period. Silencing critics? Despite a share-price gain of 98 percent for the quarter and a parade of new business, Oracle (ORCL: news, msgs) had been under pressure from skeptics before reporting its latest results. The company reported 18 percent software license revenue growth -- a number that should satisfy the company's critics. Wall Street has been scrutinizing Oracle's software license revenue growth rate -- the sore spot that sent the stock reeling 14 percent following its previous quarterly report. In the quarter ending Aug. 31, Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle reported net income grew to $237 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with $195 million, or 13 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. But revenue growth in the first quarter to $2 billion from $1.7 billion in the August 1998 period provoked dismay among analysts. Specifically, some observers didn't like the company's software revenue boost -- considered paltry at 9 percent. Analysts had expected Oracle to improve sequentially, beating last quarter's software sales. But Oracle did even better than anticipated. "If they hit license revenue growth in the range of 12 percent to 15 percent, it would be very good and represent strong growth," said Stephen Palfrey, an analyst with Bernstein in New York, speaking before the latest earnings report. In the company's conference call following its last quarterly report, Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief executive, vowed to jump-start licensed software sales in the second quarter. Ellison said sales of Oracle's database software to leading Internet sites is "through the roof," although he didn't provide specifics. Ellison's bravado "One quarter does not make a trend," he said in the conference call. "Place your bets, gentlemen. We're going to have a strong year." To be sure, Ellison has given analysts reason to believe the bravado he doled out three months ago. Oracle has been in a push to find new business, to add to its market-leading database software. And Ellison came through, delivering a potentially lucrative deal in forming a business-to-business e-commerce joint venture with Ford (F: news, msgs) last month. The Ford deal hardly will add a trickle to this quarter's revenue, said Alex Kotlyar, an analyst with C.E. Unterberg, Towbin in New York. New business gained this quarter isn't likely to add to revenue until at least mid-2000, he said. But the company has capitalized from it already, he said -- especially in marketing and public relations. The well-publicized Ford deal is helping Oracle become known among the ".com" companies and eventually will add to both its top and bottom lines. "It gives them the perception of participating in the procurement market, and it gives them more sales leads," Kotlyar said. "They're now recognized as a major player." The company also introduced several products during the quarter, including the anticipated Oracle Integration Server. That software offering can take many types of old data and make them accessible to newer types of Internet-based applications used by large corporations. It's designed to connect data from companies and their suppliers -- irrespective of storage format. The new software is likely to contribute to revenue in future quarters, analysts say. Talking points Oracle is expected to update analysts about its applications business -- especially sales of its customer-relationship management software. Oracle entered the market for so-called CRM software in May. Executives said they entered the fast-growing software business to keep ERP -- or enterprise resource planning -- software makers from flooding it. And an update about Oracle's Asia business is in order. It could be especially strong this quarter, propelled by recent sales success, as well as strong currency exchange rates. Analysts also are expecting to hear more on Oracle's expense controls, which are more likely to directly affect the to-be-announced numbers. In an ongoing cost-cutting campaign, the company has made strides in holding down expenses this year, analysts say. Mike Tarsala is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch.

To: Sonki who wrote (24951)	12/14/1999 8:49:00 PM
From: Frank Ellis Morris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27012

Sonki, How are you? I can't believe that Christmas is almost here once again. I was impressed with Oracle's great earning's announcement after the bell and I hope this may help to put tomorrow's trading in a positive spin? The fear of Allen Grinchspan is back and don't know what is going to change the dread of the Fed hiking interest rates to curb growth. Allen get a life damn it!! Take your bonds and your buns and scram!! It would be disappointing if Microsft's move over the last couple of days was just on a false rumor that there may be a settlement between the govt and Msft?? Congratulations on Sun-Microsystems. What a great performance the stock had this year. My Qualcomm and Cmgi have been doing well. My JDSU and Nokia took a hair cut over the last couple of days. Have you retired yet?? What is going on with you? Best Wishes Frank

To: Sonki who wrote (24951)	12/16/1999 2:27:00 AM
From: Sonny McWilliams	Respond to of 27012

Hello Sonki. Looks like Dave Brady is right on with his picks. Nokia. Too bad it went down another 5 today, I noticed. But I am with you. I may buy some more in the next cpl of days. Orcl's earnings came in great. No wonder it zoomed. The drug sector. Analyst's are trying their best to talk them up. Yes, less people are getting very sick but only because they are taking better drugs. So, no problem there. I think it's the worry of the State of the Union address coming up. That's always a good time to scare the drug sector. You know, give everything away for free and let's make sure we talk about expensive drugs etc. The first lady is running for the Senate. So, since her first baby didn't work very well (health care reform) they may try it once more. CPQ. Yes. 1 more qtr MAY do it. I am still only watchin Thanks for Qwest info. I'll look into it tomorrow. I saw the market once around noon and AOL and the like did not look too swift. I was very surprised to find out how nicely those stocks came back. Not all of them. Sigh. But what goes up comes down at times. Some profit taking has to be expected. Some don't mind paying the taxes. I will try to ride those babies a lot longer. Yes, we arrived last Saturday in the rain, had 1 day of decent weather and rode the highways today in pouring down rain. I think a boat would be better than a car if it were not for the wind. My wife was holding her breath when she was not telling me how to drive. You know. Go slower, don't get to close even if the car was 2 miles ahead of us. I am just kidding. It was bumper to bumper on Rt. 5 out here in pouring down rain. Give us some good hints about the markets. I really have very little time to check on things. I probably should have waited until Spring for our visit out here. I like to watch my stocks more closely at those levels. Msft and Intel did great today. Too bad I could not pay attention. Sonny PS. I am getting very tired and will answer the other messages in the morning. Keep us informed.