Signify Premium Insight: Double Trouble For Oracle Cerner

In early September, tech giant Oracle published its fiscal 2023 Q1 results. Total revenues were up 18% year-on-year at $11.4bn, of which Cerner, which Oracle acquired in June, contributed $1.4bn.  

However, excluding the contribution from Cerner, the picture is less positive, with growth of just 3% compared to the same period last year. And, conversely, looking at purely the Cerner numbers, $1.4bn is broadly flat compared to Cerner’s final four reported quarterly financials.  

Any anticipated immediate post-acquisition boost in Cerner’s financial performance has certainly not occurred. Publicly, Oracle hopes the $23.8bn Cerner acquisition will support improving its financial performance sooner rather than later. Oracle CEO Safra Katz said last month that, as Oracle fully integrates Cerner into its business, the latter would ‘positively impact’ revenue and earnings per share growth in the coming quarters, and lead to cost efficiencies. She added that Oracle expects Cerner to perform ‘even better’ in the coming quarters as it develops new healthcare cloud services.