Oracle (ORCL) is a software and hardware company that specializes in b2b solutions. With a well-established history of providing networking solutions, the company has maintained investor interest even after the dot com crash killed many of its competitors.
That doesn’t mean it’s been clear sailing for the company, which has more than doubled in value over the past 10 years–a decent return, especially considering the crash of 2008, but quite meager for a fast-growing internet industry.
Plus, the company is facing new challenges from competitors, such as SAP, Salesforce.com (CRM), and Workaday (WDAY), which have attempted to carve out niches in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) sectors that are overall threats to Oracle’s tremendous market share and size.
And Oracle is definitely big–with a current market cap of $156 billion, the company earns revenue over $10 billion per quarter these days, with plenty of growth expected in its future.
The question for investors now, however, is to what extent that growth will be, and how long it can be expected to continue. Unlike many high-tech growth companies, Oracle is profitable and has a large presence in many industries. This makes it attractive to value-investors, but it becomes a problem for growth-oriented investors. Can Oracle provide big numbers to impress the tech investors who are used to seeing double-digit returns (and declines)?
To prepare for Oracle’s earnings release on September 18, investors need to think of two things:
- What are Oracle’s biggest products?
- Who is competing with Oracle’s biggest products?
These two questions should frame the debate about Oracle. The more you know about Oracle’s business, its competitors, and the marketplace itself, the better prepared you are for Oracle’s announcement, whether it’s good, bad, or somewhere in between.