Business software maker Oracle last night delivered a third-quarter profit forecast that did not quite meet analysts' expectations.
Oracle forecast third-quarter profit of about 63-66 cents per share, with revenue flat or up 3% which translates to $9.33 billion-$9.61 billion.
The company's shift from licensing software to cloud-based subscriptions has squeezed its margins.
Analysts on average were expecting profit of 65 cents per share on revenue of $9.28 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Oracle, like other established technology companies, has been moving its business to the cloud-based model, essentially providing services remotely via data centers rather than selling installed software.
In the second quarter ended November 30, revenue from the company's cloud-computing software and platform service rose 34% to $484m.
Total revenue fell 6.3% to $8.99 billion, missing analysts average estimate of $9.06 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Oracle's second-quarter net income fell to $2.2 billion, or 51 cents per share, from $2.5 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, it earned 63 cents per share, beating average analysts' estimate of 60 cents per share.
