WHEN: Today, Thursday, January 29th
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Oracle CEO Mark Hurd on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" today. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000350362
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
JIM CRAMER: SHARES OF ORACLE ARE FLAT THIS MORNING. THE COMPANY MAKING A BIG BET, AND SO FAR SUCCESSFUL BET, ON CLOUD COMPUTING. JOINING ME NOW EXCLUSIVELY IS ORACLE'S CEO, MARK HURD. HEY MARK, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?
MARK HURD: I'M DOING GREAT. HOW ARE YOU, JIM?
CRAMER: OKAY. MARK, SOME COMPANIES ARE TRYING TO TRANSITION TO CLOUD AND THEY'RE STRUGGLING. THE SAP IS STRUGGLING. IBM IS STRUGGLING. WHY IS ORACLE NOT BEING HURT BY ITS TRANSITION?
HURD: WELL, I THINK IT'S A LOT OF WORK, JIM. I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT OUR RESULTS AND YOU LOOK AT OUR PERFORMANCE, IT'S BEEN ONE THAT'S BUILT OVER TIME. IT'S A LOT OF R&D. IT'S A LOT OF WORK TO WRITE SOFTWARE THAT'S BEEN A SIX, SEVEN-YEAR PROCESS AT ORACLE. IT'S BEEN BUILDING A SALES FORCE. IT'S EDUCATING THE SALES FORCE. IT'S CREATING AWARENESS WITH CUSTOMERS. WE'VE JUST DONE A LOT OF WORK AND, JIM, IT'S BEEN OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. I THINK IT'S SHOWN UP IN OUR RESULTS. I MEAN, TO YOUR POINT, WE'RE ONE OF THE FEW CLOUD COMPANIES THAT FRANKLY WE'RE NOT ONLY GETTING BIGGER BUT OUR GROWTH RATE IS ACTUALLY ACCELERATING AT THE SAME TIME. AND I THINK THAT'S BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE THINGS I DESCRIBED. BETTER TRAINING, BETTER SALES, MORE SALESPEOPLE, LOTS OF GREAT PRODUCTS IN R&D, SOME GOOD ACQUISITIONS AND ALTOGETHER IT'S COMBINED TO THIS SET OF RESULTS.
CRAMER: WELL LET'S TALK ABOUT THOSE ACQUISITIONS. THE DATA LODGE IT'S HARDLY EVEN MENTIONED BECAUSE IT JUST CAME IN DECEMBER. THE MICROS. THESE LOOK LIKE YOU'RE COMING INTO SOME VERTICALS THAT OTHER COMPANIES HAVE DONE. THIS REMINDS ME OF SOMETHING YOU TAUGHT ME, WHICH IS THIS SEEMS LIKE A TURN OFF THE OXYGEN TOTO SITUATION, AGAINST SOME OF THE OTHER GUYS YOU'RE GOING AGAINST.
HURD: THANK YOU FOR THAT, JIM. DATA LOGICS IS ACTUALLY PART OF OUR WHOLE EFFORT TO GO INTO MARKETING AUTOMATION. SO WE'VE TRIED TO BUILD OUT, JIM, TWO REAL DIFFERENTIATORS IN OUR CLOUD APPLICATIONS BUSINESS, OR IF YOU WILL, S.A.S., TO HAVE EACH APPLICATION TO BE THE ABSOLUTE BEST AT WHAT IT DOES, BEST AT MARKETING, THE BEST AT HCM, THE ONLY ONES IN THE MARKET TODAY WITH ERP AND EPM, THE BEST AT SALES. AND THEN, AT THE SAME TIME, TO BE THE ONLY ONE WITH A SUITE OF CAPABILITIES, SO WE ARE BUILDING UP BOTH THINGS. THE FACT THAT YOU NOW HAVE A SUITE THAT YOU CAN GET ALL OF THAT FROM ONE COMPANY AND YET EACH APP IS THE BEST THAT IT CAN BE. AND DATA LOGICS FITS IN PERFECTLY. IT'S A DATA COMPANY THAT PROVIDES VERY RICH DATA SET THAT ACTUALLY WORKS WITH MULTIPLE OF OUR APPLICATIONS. MICROS IS ACTUALLY A LEADER IN THE HOSPITALITY AREA, WHICH IS A KEY VERTICAL AS PART OF OUR RETAIL BUSINESS. WE'RE THRILLED WITH BOTH ACQUISITIONS.
CRAMER: MARK, HOW IS IT WORKING WITH YOUR CO-CEO, SAFRA, WHO EVERYBODY HAS ALWAYS LOVED AS CFO. AND ALSO WITH LARRY ELLISON WHO WAS ON THE LAST CONFERENCE CALL KIND OF GOT ON THERE AND BASICALLY SAID LISTEN, WE'RE TAKING NO PRISONERS, WE'RE KILLING EVERYBODY. WHAT'S THAT TRIO LIKE?
HURD: IT'S FUN. I MEAN I THINK, LISTEN, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME, SHE'S BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME, LARRY'S BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME. AND I THINK WE BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF A TEAM. WE'RE A TEAM HERE. THE TITLES MAY CHANGE A BIT. BUT IN REALITY, IT'S A TEAM. AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, JIM, IT'S JUST, IT'S EVEN MORE THAN THE THREE OF US. WE HAVE SOME GREAT LEADERSHIP IN OUR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION, SOME GREAT LEADERSHIP IN OUR SALES ORGANIZATION. AND AS YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU RUN THESE BIG COMPANIES AND TRY TO DO THINGS THAT FRANKLY TAKE A LOT OF WORK, IT'S GREAT TO HAVE A GREAT TEAM AROUND YOU. I'M VERY FORTUNATE TO BE SURROUNDED BY A TERRIFIC GROUP OF PEOPLE HERE.
CRAMER: MARK, ORACLE HAS ITS TENTACLES EVERYWHERE. THERE ARE A LOT OF COMPANIES THAT HAVE SAID AND USED THE SUMMER ALIBI AND SAYING THE DOLLAR HAS REALLY KILLED THEM, THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WAS SAID ON THE ORACLE CALL. WHERE ARE THE GREEN CHUTES? IS EUROPE TURNING AT ALL? YOU HAD A GOOD QUARTER IN EUROPE. ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE WORLD OUTLOOK OR TAKING IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY?
HURD: I'M MOST CONCERNED WITH ORACLE, JIM. I THINK ORACLE'S IN A POSITION WHERE WE HAVE A FANTASTIC PRODUCT PORTFOLIO. YOU MENTIONED A BIT ABOUT THAT EARLIER. WE THINK WE'RE IN A MARVELOUS COMPETITIVE POSITION. WE THINK WE'RE IN A POSITION TO TAKE MARKET SHARE. WE'LL TAKE WHATEVER THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT GIVES US. IN FACT LAST QUARTER, SAFRA GUIDED IN LOCAL CURRENCY BECAUSE OF THE VOLATILITY YOU DESCRIBED IN CURRENCY. BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, WE ARE LASER FOCUSED ON TAKING SHARE. WE'RE FOCUSED ON GROWING. WE'RE FOCUSED ON DRIVING THE COMPANY FORWARD. WE CAN CONTROL THAT, WE BELIEVE, AND I THINK YOU SEE THAT IN OUR GUIDANCE, OUR GUIDANCE IS TO ACCELERATE GROWTH. WE TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT OUR CLOUD BOOKINGS, VERY WELL, IF YOU LOOK AT NEXT YEAR, WE MAY BOOK MORE CLOUD BUSINESS THAN ANY OTHER COMPANY IN THE WORLD. I MEAN, THAT'S A STATEMENT THAT I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WOULD HAVE MADE ABOUT ORACLE SEVERAL YEARS AGO. SO WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON US, JIM, AND FOCUSED ON OUR CUSTOMERS AND NOT WORRIED SO MUCH ABOUT THE MACRO. THE MACRO TO US LOOKS FINE IN TERMS OF OUR ABILITY TO GO OUT THERE AND COMPETE AND TAKE MARKET SHARE.
DAVID FABER: MR. HURD, IT'S DAVID FABER. WOULD LOVE TO JUST GET YOUR RESPONSE TODAY TO A STORY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES ABOUT THE CHINESE MARKET. PARTICULARLY NEW RULES REQUIRING FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES TO ADOPT A LOT OF DIFFERENT PROTOCOLS, IF YOU WILL, THAT SOME ARE SAYING ARE NONCOMPETITIVE AND ACTUALLY DESIGNED TO FORCE YOU FROM THAT MARKET. IS IT A CONCERN FOR ORACLE?
HURD: I DID NOT READ THE ARTICLE, DAVID. SO I HAVEN'T. I WILL. THAT SAID, CHINA IS AN IMPORTANT MARKET TO US BUT MAYBE COMPARED TO SOME OTHER TECH COMPANIES, WE'RE NOT AS LARGE IN CHINA AS SOME OTHERS ARE. AND WE HAVE ENJOYED A PRETTY GOOD POSITION IN CHINA. WE'VE GOT OBVIOUSLY SOFTWARE THAT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT, I THINK, DAVID, IN THE SOFTWARE MARKET THAN IT IS SOMETIMES IN THE HARDWARE MARKET. AND MUCH OF WHAT YOU READ ABOUT SOME OF THOSE THINGS ARE ATTRIBUTED TO THE HARDWARE PART OF THE INDUSTRY, LESS SO IN THE SOFTWARE PART OF THE INDUSTRY.
CRAMER: MARK, I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE COMPETITION BECAUSE I KNOW MARC BENIOFF, YOU GUYS ARE ALL PART OF A KIND OF LET'S SAY A COLLEGIAL FIGHT. I'D LIKE TO THINK IT'S COLLEGIAL, BECAUSE THEY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR A LONG TIME, LARRY AND MARC. BUT I THINK MARC, IF HE WERE LISTENING TO THE INTERVIEW, WOULD SAY LISTEN, WHERE IS ORACLE IN SOCIAL? WHERE IS ORACLE IN MOBILE? WHERE IS ORACLE IN CONNECTIVITY? THE INTERNET OF THINGS? BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT, WE'RE BEATING THEM IN THAT. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A BENIOFF FROM SALESFORCE, WHO WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, ORACLE, THEY ARE GOOD GUYS BUT THEY'RE JUST NOT, THEY'RE NOT WINNING LIKE WE ARE.
HURD: I'D SAY JUST LOOK AT THE NUMBERS. SO I MEAN, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ALL TALK AND WE CAN SAY A LOT OF THINGS AND TO YOUR POINT, YOU KNOW, IT'S COLLEGIAL, BUT THAT SAID, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S ABOUT PERFORMANCE. YOU KNOW WE HAVE BUILT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME A SUITE OF CAPABILITIES, NOT ONE APPLICATION. WE HAVE BROUGHT TO THE MARKET BEST BREED APPLICATIONS. AND WE ARE NOW GROWING FASTER THAN THEY ARE. AND WE'RE GETTING BIGGER AND GROWING FASTER AS WE'RE GETTING BIGGER. SO I THINK IT WILL PLAY OUT IN THE NUMBERS. WE'LL SEE. WE MADE A STATEMENT IN OUR CALL THAT WE WILL ACTUALLY BOOK MORE CLOUD BUSINESS AS WE GO FORWARD INTO THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR THAN ANY OTHER CLOUD COMPANY. LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
CRAMER: MARK HURD, THANK YOU SO MUCH. ORACLE CEO AND A FEISTY INTERVIEW THERE FROM A MAN WHO IS LET'S SAY HE'S NOT AT COLLEGIAL AS HE SOUNDS. THANK YOU, MARK.
About CNBC:
With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/cnbc/.