Here’s an article that puts into question the good fiscal quarter results that Oracle announced. All is not as it seems and for me, Oracle is still a very troubled company with a very questionable future. Definitely worth checking out.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oracle-buyback-driven-earnings-beat-cloud-growth-leaves-analysts-mixed-2018-12-18
Oracle needs to research how many customers have ditched their database and moving to something else. The old man LE still dreaming of the 90's. Moving away from a database is difficult, having customers to move back even tougher. I would not say the future is questionable. It is certain .. Oracle as a company is going downhill. Keep buying back the stocks to hold its value is not a long term solution. This company having a hard time attracting talents. Existing employees with low morale. How does a company in this level have a good future?
Especially when they’re fake
https://www.wsj.com/articles/oracle-money-cant-buy-you-love-11545169800
"The enterprise software giant spent $10 billion repurchasing its own stock during its fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30. (...)"
"The problem is that Oracle typically generates less than $15 billion in operating cash flow over a 12-month period. That figure took a hit in the most recent quarter due to an installment payment on the one-time transition tax stemming from last year’s tax reform. So its current pace of buybacks clearly can’t go on forever. And it is already denting the company’s sizable wallet. Oracle has spent about $20 billion in buybacks over the last six months; its total cash balance has slid 27% in that time. That has put the software giant into a net debt position for the first time in a decade."
So, I guess there won't be much money for infrastructure investments, acquisitions, and staff raises/bonuses.
Oracle has a middling future as a DB company, that’s the only market segment in which it is a leader. The problem, of course, is pricing. For developers to use it as the DB for their apps, oracle needs to price it reasonably, not as a DB extortionist monopolist. Therefore, no doubt that revenues and profits will decline, unless it continues the current strategy in which case it will plain cease to exist.