Oracle Corp. breezed past analysts' expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter, providing another sign of the technology industry's vitality despite the listless U.S. economy.

With the impressive , Oracle joins several other major tech companies that are weathering the economic turbulence battering financial services, travel and retail.

"The fact that we put up these results in these times demonstrates our strategy is working," Safra Catz, Oracle's chief financial officer, said in a Wednesday conference call with analysts.

But the business software maker said Wednesday its momentum will likely taper off during the traditionally slow summer season _ a cautious forecast that caused Oracle shares to slide by nearly 3 percent in after-hours trading.

The Redwood Shores-based company earned $2.04 billion, or 39 cents per share, in the three months ending in May, up 27 percent from $1.6 billion or 31 cents per share at the same time last year.

If not for expenses related to acquisitions and employee stock awards, Oracle said it would have made 47 cents per share _ 3 cents more than the average estimate on the same basis among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue totaled $7.24 billion, a 24 percent gain from last year's $5.83 billion in the same period and nearly $400 million above the average analyst projections.

Perhaps most important to investors, Oracle's software sales accelerated well beyond the 10 percent to 20 percent growth rate management forecast three months ago. Oracle's new software licenses in the quarter were up 27 percent.

That robust growth is significant because sales of new software produce reliable future revenue from product updates and maintenance.

But management raised the specter of a slowdown at the start of its new fiscal year, which began this month. Oracle projected new software licenses will rise 10 percent to 20 percent during the first quarter, compared to a 35 percent gain in the same period last summer.

Excluding acquisition and stock compensation costs, Oracle expects to its first-quarter earnings to be 26 cents or 27 cents per share. Analysts, on average, had already forecast 27 cents per share.

Oracle shares dropped 65 cents, or 2.9 percent, in extended trading after finishing the regular session at $22.55, up 32 cents.

Technology generally has proven a safe haven so far, largely because corporations still need computers and software to navigate through the economy's downturn.

At large technology companies like Oracle, Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., Intel Corp., Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc., international operations and the weakening dollar have helped offset slowing demand in the United States.

If the dollar were stronger, Oracle estimated its fourth-quarter profit would have risen a more modest 14 percent.

The strong fourth-quarter performance also indicates Oracle is gaining ground on SAP AG, the longtime leader in so-called business applications software _ the computer coding that enables companies, schools and government agencies to automate administrative tasks.

Oracle has spent about $35 billion during the past three years buying dozens of smaller rivals, primarily to mount a more serious challenge to Germany-based SAP in business applications software.

SAP remains the market leader. But Oracle's expansion has powered it to a succession of record profits.

In its most recent fiscal year, Oracle earned $5.52 billion, or $1.06 per share, compared to $4.27 billion, or 81 cents in the prior year.