Oracle Corporation (ORCL)
Company Information
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Domestic Tax HavensMar 31 2008
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Ellison Gets His DealJan 16 2008
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Spy vs. SpyDec 17 2007
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Oracle Makes an OfferOct 12 2007
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Rival to Oracle: Our BadJul 03 2007
Portfolio.com Overview
WHERE THEY CAME FROM
Oracle was founded in 1977 by programmers Bob Miner, Ed Oates, and
Larry Ellison, who still runs the company today. Oracle put its first relational-database product on the market in 1979, and thanks to the company’s indomitable sales force—and Ellison’s instinct for empire building—it has since become a software superpower.
WHAT THEY DO
Oracle develops business databases, middleware, and software applications that manage everything from billing to benefits.
WHAT THEY’VE DONE RIGHT, SORT OF
Oracle C.E.O. Larry Ellison is notoriously disposed to drama, and no company saga has had more of it than Oracle’s hostile takeover of PeopleSoft, another business-software maker. Ellison set his sights on this Silicon Valley neighbor in 2003 when he noticed back-office programs Oracle’s portfolio was missing—and that PeopleSoft was starting to encroach on Oracle’s market share. Enraged, Ellison made a initial bid for the company of $5.1 billion—an offer he’d ultimately more than double before PeopleSoft’s board finally waved the white flag 18 months later. In the interim, Oracle was taken to court by antitrust regulators (with a federal judge ultimately ruling in Oracle’s favor), and PeopleSoft dismissed its anti-Ellison C.E.O. Craig Conway, a former Oracle employee, and restored founder Dave Duffield to the post, clearing the way for the deal to close.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Oracle may not have been ruled a monopoly, but the constantly mushrooming company is as formidable to customers as it is to competitors. And customers know it. A report in Linux Watch, a periodical covering the open-source sector, noted that financial-analysis firms were unwilling to talk openly about their experiences with one of Oracle’s newer products, Unbreakable Linux (which competes with the open-source Red Hat), for fear they might “get into trouble with Oracle.”
Since buying PeopleSoft, Oracle has built an arsenal of industry-dominating software in the communications, office-management, and sales sectors through 20 more acquisitions, including 13 in 2006 alone. Today, the Oracle relational database—the company’s core product—is the industry standard, enjoying a market share of nearly 50 percent.
WHAT’S NEXT
Buying is the easy part. The challenge Oracle perpetually faces is interweaving its new toys into an efficient corporate structure. In terms of product expansion, Oracle continues to strengthen its grip on the data-application sector, as evidenced by its $3.3 billion purchase of Hyperion in March 2007. Oracle is also working to attract more customers in Asia, where Ellison is finding fertile ground to fulfill his tech manifest destiny. —Megan Angelo
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Domestic Tax Havens
How to save millions in taxes by moving home.Mar 31 2008 -
Ellison Gets His Deal
Oracle agrees to acquire BEA for $8.5 billion.Jan 16 2008 -
Spy vs. Spy
They're leaving "the Company" to snoop on your company. How C.I.A. agents are pushing corporate espionage to ominous new extremesDec 17 2007 -
Oracle Makes an Offer
Proposal for BEA is the latest in a wave of deals.Oct 12 2007 -
Rival to Oracle: Our Bad
German software giant SAP acknowledges 'inappropriate downloads.'Jul 03 2007
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Tech Roundup: Bill Gates moves on
AP
Jun 27 2008
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Accenture jumps after solid quarter, outlook
AP
Jun 27 2008
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Reuters Business Summary
Reuters
Jun 26 2008
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Oracle throws wet blanket on strong 4Q results
AP
Jun 26 2008
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Oracle shares fall on concerns over outlook
Reuters
Jun 26 2008
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Out of the Gate: Oracle shares slide after outlook
AP
Jun 26 2008
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Oracle net profit jumps, but outlook cautious
Reuters
Jun 25 2008
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Earnings roundup: Oracle, Red Hat
AP
Jun 25 2008
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Oracle profit rises with new software sales
Reuters
Jun 25 2008
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Earnings preview: Oracle Corp.
AP
Jun 24 2008
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The Icahn Laughter Medicine
Nov 16 2007
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$6.66: The Number of the BEAS
Oct 12 2007
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Tech Folks and the Crash of '87
Aug 24 2007
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Daily Brew
Aug 07 2007
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Put Your Ego to Work
Jul 13 2007
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Oracle(R) Secure Enterprise Search Recognized as an Industry Leader Jul-02-2008, 08:00AM EDT
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Business Intelligence Software Growth Shows Dramatic Drop In U.S.
(Information Week)Jul 09 2008 -
Oracle Still Top Dog in Tough Database Market
(Yahoo! News)Jul 09 2008 -
nCipher to provide encryption key management for Oracle Database 11g
(Computer Business Review)Jul 08 2008 -
The J.M. Smucker implements Oracle's Siebel CRM integration pack
(Computer Business Review)Jul 08 2008 -
Enterprise 2.0: Oracle Pushes 'Social CRM' Services
(Information Week)Jul 08 2008 -
What Will Oracle Acquire Next?
(Information Week)Jul 08 2008 -
HP Tailors BladeSystem To Oracle Data Warehouse
(Information Week)Jul 08 2008 -
The Weekly Watch On Content Management
(Information Week)Jul 08 2008 -
Vendors: It's Not That Bad
(CIO Magazine)Jul 08 2008 -
Oracle Buys Sleepycat
(CIO Magazine)Jul 08 2008
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Oracle Still Not Keen on SaaS
(Sramana Mitra on Strategy)Jul 02 2008 -
Accenture Beats Expectations, Adjusts Strategy
(Sramana Mitra on Strategy)Jun 27 2008
Employees
Top Executives
Board of Directors
Financials
| Income Statement | 03/2008 | 12/2007 | 09/2007 | 06/2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 1.18 Bil. | 1.17 Bil. | 1.09 Bil. | 1.09 Bil. |
| Gross Operating Profit | 4.17 Bil. | 4.14 Bil. | 3.44 Bil. | 4.74 Bil. |
| Operating Income before D & A (EBITDA) | 2.2 Bil. | 2.17 Bil. | 1.62 Bil. | 2.67 Bil. |
| Total Income Before Interest Expenses (EBIT) | 1.96 Bil. | 1.92 Bil. | 1.29 Bil. | 2.31 Bil. |
| Total Net Income | 1.34 Bil. | 1.3 Bil. | 840 Mil. | 1.6 Bil. |
| Basic EPS, Total | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.16 | 0.32 |
| Diluted EPS, Total | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.16 | 0.3 |
| BALANCE STATEMENT | 03/2008 | 12/2007 | 09/2007 | 06/2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and Equivalents | 8.41 Bil. | 6.73 Bil. | 6.46 Bil. | 6.22 Bil. |
| Total Assets | 15.73 Bil. | 13.56 Bil. | 12.17 Bil. | 12.88 Bil. |
| Total Liabilities | 6.83 Bil. | 6.55 Bil. | 6.8 Bil. | 9.39 Bil. |
| Total Capitalization | 27.05 Bil. | 25.53 Bil. | 24.02 Bil. | 23.15 Bil. |
| Cash Flow | 03/2008 | 12/2007 | 09/2007 | 06/2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Cash From Continuing Operations | 5.11 Bil. | 3.3 Bil. | 2.7 Bil. | 5.52 Bil. |
| Net Cash From Investing Activities | -1.84 Bil. | -1.49 Bil. | -968 Mil. | -4.97 Bil. |
| Net Cash From Financing Activities | -1.48 Bil. | -1.54 Bil. | -1.52 Bil. | -1.14 Bil. |
| Net Change in Cash & Cash Equivalents | 2.19 Bil. | 515 Mil. | 237 Mil. | -441 Mil. |
| Income Statement | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 3.94 Bil. | 2.96 Bil. | 2.44 Bil. | 2.08 Bil. |
| Gross Operating Profit | 14.05 Bil. | 11.42 Bil. | 9.35 Bil. | 8.07 Bil. |
| Operating Income before D & A (EBITDA) | 7.26 Bil. | 5.81 Bil. | 4.8 Bil. | 4.1 Bil. |
| Total Income Before Interest Expenses (EBIT) | 6.33 Bil. | 4.98 Bil. | 4.19 Bil. | 3.97 Bil. |
| Total Net Income | 4.27 Bil. | 3.38 Bil. | 2.89 Bil. | 2.68 Bil. |
| Basic EPS, Total | 0.83 | 0.65 | 0.56 | 0.51 |
| Diluted EPS, Total | 0.81 | 0.64 | 0.55 | 0.5 |
| BALANCE STATEMENT | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and Equivalents | 6.22 Bil. | 6.66 Bil. | 3.89 Bil. | 4.14 Bil. |
| Total Assets | 12.88 Bil. | 11.97 Bil. | 8.48 Bil. | 11.34 Bil. |
| Total Liabilities | 9.39 Bil. | 6.93 Bil. | 8.06 Bil. | 4.27 Bil. |
| Total Capitalization | 23.15 Bil. | 20.75 Bil. | 11 Bil. | 8.16 Bil. |
| Cash Flow | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Cash From Continuing Operations | 5.52 Bil. | 4.54 Bil. | 3.55 Bil. | 3.18 Bil. |
| Net Cash From Investing Activities | -4.97 Bil. | -3.36 Bil. | -5.75 Bil. | -2.56 Bil. |
| Net Cash From Financing Activities | -1.14 Bil. | 1.53 Bil. | 1.88 Bil. | -1.29 Bil. |
| Net Change in Cash & Cash Equivalents | -441 Mil. | 2.76 Bil. | -244 Mil. | -599 Mil. |
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