Oracle's (ORCL) 1Q earnings zoom 25% higher

Software concern Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported a 25% jump in its net income for the first quarter. In its latest reporting period, the company posted net income of $840 million, or 16 cents per share, easily hurdling year-ago results of $670 million, or 13 cents per share. Revenue, meanwhile, surged 26% to $4.53 billion, marking the sixth straight quarter with sales growth of 20% or more.

Excluding items, the company's per-share earnings hit 22 cents per share, edging out analysts' expectations and the company's June forecast by a penny per share. Sales including deferred revenue from acquired companies moved to $4.59 billion, topping the $4.33 billion average estimate reported by Bloomberg.

The stock is motoring higher in after-hours activity, up 1.7% currently to encroach upon the $21.50 level. Oracle has been in rally mode for several months and has muscled into territory not encountered since early 2001. Wall Street is relatively enamored of the shares - the latest information from Zacks reveals 14 "strong buy" ratings among analysts, 2 "buys," 7 "holds," and only one "strong sell."

After its earnings news hit the wires, one analyst with Morgan Stanley told Bloomberg: "[Oracle is] performing consistently, even in challenging markets ... few stocks have shown this steady performance, with very clean quarters."

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She does not own any Oracle shares.