Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported better than expected results with GAAP total revenues climbing 37 percent to USD 8.8 billion in the fiscal third quarter 2011, according to a statement by the company. New software license grew 29 percent to USD 2.2 billion while revenues generated from hardware systems products stood at USD 1.0 billion. The company posted GAAP earnings of USD 0.41 per share, a growth of 75 percent compared to the same period of 2010, the company said.

Analysts expected profit of USD 0.50 per share, excluding costs and other expenses, while the company posted profit of USD 0.54 per share. The market reacted positively and the company’s shares added USD 0.73 to USD 32.14 per share on Nasdaq on Friday.

“Strong revenue growth coupled with disciplined business management enabled an increase in non-GAAP operating margin to 44 percent and earnings per share to USD 0.54,” Safra Catz, Oracle President, said in a press release.

 

Safra Catz plans even more agressive expansion

 

“Our hardware product gross margins increased to 55 percent in the quarter so we are now completely confident that we will exceed the USD 1.5 billion profit goal we set for the overall Sun business for the current fiscal year, ”she added.

Growing demand for cloud-based services boosted company’s performance in the past quarter, analysts believe. The company acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010 which expanded Oracle’s corporate customer base though server solutions targeting corporations that want to benefit from cloud-computing. Ironically, Sun Microsystems posted operating loss of USD 775 million prior to its acquisition by Oracle Corp. and now the Sun’s former server machines business earned the company over USD 1.5 in profit.

 

Oracle Stock Movement (Close Price, 12 months, Nasdaq)

 

“In Q3 we signed several large hardware and software deals with some of the biggest names in cloud computing,” Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO, said in a press release. “For example, Salesforce.com’s new multi-year contract enables them to continue building virtually all of their cloud services on top of the Oracle database and Oracle middleware. Oracle is the technology that powers the cloud,” he added.

The company’s shareholders will earn a quarterly cash dividend of USD 0.06 per share of outstanding common stock compared to dividend of USD 0.05 in the previous quarter, a growth of 20 percent quarter over quarter.