The company came in with Q1 earnings up 25% to $840 million, or 16 cents a share, on revenues up 26% to $4.5 billion during a season, ending in August, that's generally its weakest, landing pretty much where Wall Street expected it to.

Software revenues were up 26% to $3.5 billion with new software licenses, the great tell-all, up 35% to $1.1 billion and new application licenses up 65%.

By comparison SAP, its hereditary enemy's new applications licenses are up only 18%, suggesting that Oracle has just flattened Dresden like Bomber Harris. Oracle claims share gains against SAP.

Overall the company's new licenses made their best showing in 10 years. Its database and middleware new licenses were up 23%, the highest in seven years, and its service revenues were up 25% to $1.1 billion.

It figures it will pass both IBM and Microsoft in the middleware sector either this year - or at worst next year to be number one as it is in databases, where it claims to have cut another point of share off of IBM.

According to Ellison, SAP's NetWeaver middleware platform has "practically disappeared"; Oracle claims it never sees it in the marketplace.

Oracle's numbers came out the day after SAP unveiled its newfangled company-changing low-end Business ByDesign SaaS scheme, which Oracle CEO Larry Ellison claims won't make SAP any money. Oracle, he said, has looked at the SMB market, where SAP is directing its attention, and found no synergies to build on.

Besides the cost of implementation, it requires a new sales force, he said, and is expensive to call on (which is probably why SAP is depending on resellers).

That's why Oracle is chasing upstream industry-specific vertical software among customers who can afford big-ticket items. He claims there is "huge headroom" there though Oracle will continue to watch SAP's progress with Business ByDesign.

Oracle is projecting its Q2 revenue will be up 19%-21% year-over-year, with new licenses up a broad 15%-25%, for earnings of 20 cents-21 cents a share.