One of the largest software companies in the world hit all-time highs this week on the heels of its fourth-quarter earnings report. Here’s a look at how an investment in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) has performed since its IPO.
What Happened: Founded as Software Development Laboratories in 1977, the company later changed its name to Oracle in 1983.
The company was founded by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates. Ellison was influenced by the business of IBM in his creation of Oracle.
Ellison served as the CEO of Oracle for 37 years before stepping down from the role in 2014. Ellison is currently its chairman and chief technology officer, and owns about 35% of the company.
Oracle Corporation reported record full-year revenue of $50 billion. The strength came from the company’s cloud segment which had strong growth.
Reporting segments for the company include Cloud Services and License Support, Cloud License, Hardware and Services.
The company is also launching new artificial intelligence products to capitalize on growth of the segment moving forward.
With shares at record highs, here’s a look back at the company’s share return since it held its initial price offering (IPO).
Related Link: Trading Strategies For Oracle Stock After Q4 Earnings
Investing $1,000 in Oracle IPO: Oracle had its IPO on March 12, 1986, with shares offered at a price of $15 each. Shares jumped in their debut and closed the first trading day at $20.
A $1,000 investment in Oracle at its IPO could have purchased 66.67 shares.
Over the course of 1986 to now, Oracle shares held several splits, increasing the number of shares an owner had. Splits included:
March 1987: 2-for-1
December 1987: 2-for-1
June 1989: 2-for-1
February 1995: 3-for-2
April 1996: 3-for-2
August 1997: 3-for-2
February 1999: 3-for-2
January 2000: 2-for-1
October 2000: 2-for-1
Accounting for the stock splits, an investor who invested $1,000 in the IPO would have 10,800.54 shares today.
The $1,000 investment would be worth a staggering $1,302,113.10 today.
While not all IPOs will win over the long term, the Oracle investment is an example of a well-known growing company going public and growing revenue and earnings over years through a series of acquisitions and existing company segments.
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