NEW YORK: Oracle Corp topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and revenue yesterday, as demand for its Cloud products soars amid an industry-wide shift to Cloud-based platforms.

       Shares in the Austin, Texas-based company, whose fourth quarter revenue jumped 5%, rose about 12% in extended trade.

       “We believe that this revenue growth spike indicates that our infrastructure business has now entered a hyper-growth phase,” Oracle chief executive officer Safra Catz said in a statement.

       Oracle, which reported a currency headwind of 5% in the fourth quarter, up from 2% to 3% in the third quarter, said it expects revenue growth in its cloud business, despite rising inflation and a stronger greenback.

       Microsoft in April and Salesforce Inc last month also indicated a strong future for the cloud market as companies increase spending, though the former cut its fourth quarter forecast for profit and revenue earlier this month due to unfavorable exchange rates.

       Oracle warned of a US$100mil (RM442mil) hit per quarter in fiscal year 2023 as a result of suspending services in Russia.

       The company, however, expects first quarter revenue growth between 17% and 18%, boosted by its US$28bil (RM123.7bil) acquisition of healthcare IT company Cerner Corp.

       Oracle’s forecast came on a day US equity markets tumbled with the S&P 500 confirming it was in a bear market as investors fear aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve could plunge the economy into recession.

       The company expects first quarter adjusted earnings per share between US$1.04 (RM4.60) and US$1.08 (RM4.77) compared with analysts’ average estimate of US$1.13 (RM4.99).

       Revenue for the fourth quarter ended May 31 grew to US$11.84bil (RM52.32bil), above analysts’ average estimate of US$11.66bil (RM51.52bil), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

       Excluding items, the company earned US$1.54 (RM6.80) per share, beating estimates of US$1.37 (RM6.05) per share. — Reuters