Bulked-Up Oracle Gets Tested

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle(ORCL Quote), which has bulked up through a high-impact acquisition program, is riding a wave as a mature provider of integrated business software.

But maturity can often be the foe of spectacular stock growth.

When the software database giant reports first-quarter financial results later Thursday, most Street expectations call for the company to meet expectations in what is a seasonally weak quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are expecting earnings per share, excluding items, of 21 cents on revenue of $4.34 billion.

For many investors, the attraction of business clients to Oracle's multilayered software "stack" is a reason to keep the faith. ...