First Brands Group debt targeted by Apollo Global Management - report
Investing.com -- Larry Ellison is closing in on Elon Musk for the title of the world’s richest person after Oracle Corp.’s earnings sent his fortune sharply higher.
Ellison’s net worth rose by $70 billion on Tuesday after Oracle reported quarterly results that topped expectations and forecast further growth.
His fortune now stands at $364 billion, within reach of Musk’s $384 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
If the increase holds when trading begins on Wednesday, it will mark the largest single-day gain ever recorded by the index.
Oracle’s shares, which had already advanced 45% this year through Tuesday’s close, surged more than 28% in extended trading on stronger bookings and a bullish outlook for its cloud infrastructure business.
It was the company’s biggest one-day jump since 1999. Ellison, 81, co-founded Oracle and retains most of his wealth in the database software firm, where he is chairman and chief technology officer.
Musk, who first reached the top of the wealth rankings in 2021 before temporarily losing the title to Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault, regained it last year and has held it for just over 300 days.
Tesla shares, which account for much of his fortune, have fallen 14% this year, narrowing the gap between him and Ellison.
Oracle closed its fiscal first quarter with $455 billion in remaining performance obligations, more than four times higher than a year ago and sharply above the $138 billion reported in the previous quarter.
The surge was fueled by four multibillion-dollar contracts signed with three major customers, and Chief Executive Safra Catz said additional deals expected in the coming months could lift the backlog above $500 billion.
The company’s outlook was strong despite a mixed quarter. Revenue rose 12% to $14.93 billion, missing analyst expectations of $15.04 billion, according to FactSet.
Cloud revenue grew 28% to $7.2 billion, while software revenue slipped 1% to $5.7 billion. Oracle has been ramping up its cloud business, positioning against Amazon, Microsoft, and Google as demand for AI computing accelerates.
Adjusted earnings came in at $1.47 a share, roughly in line with the $1.48 a share that analysts polled by FactSet expected.
Catz projected cloud infrastructure revenue of $18 billion this fiscal year, with growth continuing to $32 billion, $73 billion, $114 billion, and $144 billion over the following four years.