Oracle Shares Plunge 10 Percent After 2Q Earnings Miss

Shares of Oracle, the biggest enterprise software developer, fell more than 10 percent in pre-market trading Wednesday after the company missed second-quarter estimates for earnings.

Oracle was at $26.05, down 10.7 percent from Tuesday, when the value of the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giant was $147.2 billion.

The company headed by CEO Larry Ellison said per-share earnings were 54 cents a share, 2 cents below 56 and 58 cents carried by according to Zacks and ThomsonReuters. The estimates generally followed company guidance.

Oracle's second-quarter revenue was $8.8 billion, up 2 percent but below the expected to range between $8.92 billion and $9.27 billion. Last quarter, Dell earned 46 cents a share on revenue of $8.4 billion, nearly 11 percent above the 2010 figure.

Co-president Safra Catz blamed reluctance of customers to close deals late into November, when Oracle's quarter ended. She also issued a lackluster forecast for the current quarter, about level earnings as well as revenue.

This quarter was not as we thought it would be, she told investors Tuesday night. Oracle shares, which had closed at $29.17, up nearly 2 percent, fell to $26.62, or nearly 9 percent, after the results were announced.

On a net basis, Oracle said second-quarter net income rose 17 percent to $2.19 billion, or 43 cents a diluted share.