By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 26th, 2024
The Nasdaq saw a lower close as tech stocks fell after Oracle released figures that disappointed Wall Street.
On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite closed lower, following disappointing figures from multinational computer technology company Oracle Corp (NYSE: ORCL). The development spread into a few tech stocks and other indexes.
While the Nasdaq fell 1.04% to 13,773.61, the S&P 500 closed at 4,461.90 after losing 0.57%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIJA) also recorded a loss, shedding 0.05% or 17.73 points to close at 34,645.99. Interestingly, the Nasdaq Composite has climbed more than 18% over the past year, and 31.06% year to date (YTD), according to data from MarketWatch.
Oracle shares closed at $109.61 after falling 13.5%, the company’s worst trading day in 21 years, since March 2002. Oracle has lost nearly 12% in the last five days, 6.55% over the last month, and more than 6% in the past three months. Nonetheless, the company’s stock has seen better days as it has jumped more than 44% over the past year, and 34.1% YTD.
Oracle had posted financial results of its fiscal Q1 2024, showing some figures that missed Wall Street expectations. The database maker’s earnings came in at $1.19 per share, adjusted, slightly beating the expected 1.15, according to LSEG. However, revenue also fell slightly to $12.45 billion compared to the expected $12.47 billion.
There were a few other declines, including hardware revenue at $714 million, falling 6% year over year (YoY). Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount were expecting $739.6 million. Also, although cloud infrastructure revenue increased 66% to $1.5 billion, recorded growth was lower than the 76% from the first quarter.
Oracle Bullish on Near Future as Other Tech Stocks on the Nasdaq Close Lower
Regardless, Oracle said it is looking forward to more cloud sales. Chair and technology chief Larry Ellison said in a statement:
“As of today, AI development companies have signed contracts to purchase more than $4 billion of capacity in Oracle’s Gen2 Cloud. That’s twice as much as we had booked at the end of Q4.”
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) also fell, closing 1.71% lower at $176.30 after announcing new products, including the iPhone 15 series, a new Apple Watch, and AirPods updated with USB-C. Adobe Inc (NASDAQ: ABDE) shares also fell, closing 3.95% lower at $542.21. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) fell 1.31%, while Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) lost 1.83% and closed at $331.77. There was a similar plunge in Alphabet Inc as it lost 1.15% and closed at 135.12.
The Nasdaq is generally still upbeat as it has gotten much attention from foreign companies looking to list in the US.
“We are bullish on China and will continue to be as we see more and more Chinese companies listed on Nasdaq in the months and years to come,” said Nasdaq vice chairman Robert McCooey at the US-China Business Forum in New York.
McCooey added that the Nasdaq “pipeline” is strong for Chinese companies interested in the US market. He also stated that China is an important region that contributes to the growth of Nasdaq, and also the global economy. Currently, more than 200 Chinese companies are trading on the Nasdaq, including Baidu, JD.com, and Pinduoduo.