Oracle Earnings Solid but Hardware Sales Slip

When all the numbers were tallied, Oracle turned in a record-breaking fourth quarter and fiscal year financial report June 23.

However, a second consecutive quarter of weak data center hardware sales caused its stock to slip more than 6 percent in after-hours trading.

Two hours after the markets closed, Oracle was selling at about $31 per share, down about $1.25 (4 percent).

Investors can't argue with the bottom-line results, however. The full-service IT hardware and software maker brought in total quarterly revenue of $10.8 billion, an increase of 12 percent on the same period last year, and a tad above analysts' projections of $10.75 billion.

For the fiscal year, Oracle brought in revenue of $35.9 billion, a jump of 33 percent from the previous year and a notch over Wall Street's estimate of $35.77 billion. The company  earned $2.22 per share, an increase of 33 percent on the prior year -- exceeding consensus forecasts of $2.18.

The enterprise database maker earned 75 cents a share, up from 60 cents in Q4 2010. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of 71 cents per share.