Ignore The "3-T's" - Try NetLease Real Estate ETF Instead

&l;p&g;With all due respect to anyone renting right now, dealing with tenants can be a giant pain in the neck.

Unless we&a;rsquo;re talking about a slumlord or some other kind of unethical real estate baron &a;ndash; and yes, I fully acknowledge those do exist &a;ndash; most landlords tend to work very hard for their income.

For starters, there&a;rsquo;s the normal, built-into-the-lease expectations they have to manage. This includes timely renovations and building upgrades, staying on top of the regular wear and tear of a building (aka depreciation), and taking care of the toilets, the trash and the taxes.

Those last three are known as the three Ts in this line of business (toilets, trash, and taxes).

Then there are &a;ldquo;those&a;rdquo; kinds of tenants they have to deal with. Tom Chiarella, who was a landlord for almost two decades, has some stories to tell in that regard. According to &l;a href=&q;https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/a25120/landlord/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;his article on Popular Mechanics&l;/a&g;, the following details are some of the lesser problems he had to face over the course of his real estate career:

&l;/p&g;&l;blockquote&g;People will flush anything down a toilet. Curlers. Popsicle wrappers. Combs. I&s;m not saying they do it on purpose. Maybe they didn&s;t notice the jet-black comb on the blazingly contrasting white porcelain floor of the toilet bowl. Maybe they just flicked the handle and down it went. Accidents happen. But when you&s;re the one kneeling on a damp bath towel on a Wednesday afternoon, fishing around in a toilet with a thirty-foot snake, I&s;m telling you: You see some stuff. Poker chips. Warning labels. Handfuls of expired vitamins. There was an afternoon when I, the landlord, stood with a plumber as he ground around for about fifteen minutes until he broke through the offending blockage. Moments later, an artichoke leaf floated up, then another, and another. Seriously: artichoke leaves. &q;I don&s;t know anything about that,&q; my tenant told me when I called that night. Paradoxically, he then added, &q;That must have been an accident.&q;&l;/blockquote&g;

For the record, artichokes aren&a;rsquo;t exactly the smallest vegetable available. They&a;rsquo;re much better disposed of in a trash can or compost bin.

&l;strong&g;The Obvious Upside to the Job&l;/strong&g;

Admittedly, those kinds of aggravations can be more on the residential-specific side of the landlord spectrum. However, there are plenty of businesses that are more than capable of creating undesirable, unnecessary &a;ldquo;situations&a;rdquo; in their own special ways.

All things considered, if you&a;rsquo;ve never been a landlord before, you might want to count your blessings.

With that said, there is obviously money to be made out of it. Otherwise, nobody in a free society would ever willingly subject themselves to those kinds of reoccurring headaches and hassles.

When managed with the right goals and the right application, renting out property can bring in the kind of money that can build real estate empires &a;ndash; the very concept that REITs are built on.

People need homes, and businesses need space. Yet not all of them &a;ndash; maybe even most of them &a;ndash; aren&a;rsquo;t always willing or able to buy up their own property in the process. So they rent instead, a decision that provides steady income for hundreds of publicly traded REITs&a;hellip; and reliable dividend returns for investors like you and me&a;hellip;

When everything goes as planned.

While there&a;rsquo;s no way to predict absolutely everything, there is a way REITs can significantly shorten the list of negative possibilities they have to worry about. That&a;rsquo;s through triple net leases.

&l;strong&g;The New Big Deal on the REIT Block&l;/strong&g;

I&a;rsquo;ve long-since noted that, out of all the REITs I cover, the ones that operate with triple net leases are among my favorites (I also have

built over 100 free-standing buildings myself, as a developer). From a landlord&a;rsquo;s perspective, these are about the most favorable leasing conditions around.

Here&a;rsquo;s how I described them in an April 2018 &l;em&g;Forbes &l;/em&g;piece titled, &a;ldquo;3 Highly Predictable REITs to Help You Sleep Well at Night.&a;rdquo; These are rental properties &a;ldquo;with long-term leases (10-25 years)&a;rdquo; signed by &a;ldquo;high credit-quality tenants.&a;rdquo;

They&a;rsquo;re called net leases because:

&l;blockquote&g;&a;ldquo;&a;hellip; they generally use a triple-net lease structure, whereby tenants pay all expenses related to property management: property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. &l;a href=&q;https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fbradthomas%2F2018%2F04%2F09%2F3-highly-predictable-reits-to-help-you-sleep-well-at-night%2F&a;amp;text=Like%20a%20ground%20lease%2C%20triple-net%20leases%20result%20in%20long-term%2C%20relatively%20predictable%20income%20streams.&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Like a ground lease, triple-net leases result in long-term, relatively predictable income streams.&l;/a&g; Similar to a bank, net lease REITs essentially capture the &a;ldquo;spread&a;rdquo; between the acquisition cap rate and their cost of capital. Furthermore, compared to other REITs, net lease REITs function more like a financing company rather than an operating company. These REITs hold the long-term, capital-intensive real estate assets that other companies prefer not to hold on their balance sheets.&a;rdquo;&l;/blockquote&g;

In and of itself, that&a;rsquo;s a fine kind of business structure to bet on. But perhaps better still is how, as of today, there is now officially an ETF on the market that holds absolutely nothing other than triple net REITs.

I&a;rsquo;m extremely excited to tell you all about it&a;hellip;

&l;strong&g;This New REIT Has Elements of the SWAN Elements&l;/strong&g;

Today NetLease Corporate Real Estate ETF (NETL) is launching and the strategy for this fund is that it is the first ETF focused solely on Net Lease REITs, which is one of the fastest growing sectors within the REIT space. Just a few days ago I &l;a href=&q;https://seekingalpha.com/article/4249377-march-madness-nothing-net-lease-reits&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;wrote an article&l;/a&g; explaining,

&l;blockquote&g;&a;ldquo;the backdrop (low rates, slightly higher yields, acquisition abundance) remains favorable for Triple Net REIT transaction volumes and earnings given their cost and access to capital advantage.&a;rdquo;&l;/blockquote&g;

NETL is a pure-play Net Lease REIT ETF that encompasses a variety of REITs that provide sustainable cash flows by leasing their properties through long-term contractual leases on a triple-net lease basis. The leases have terms that are generally 10 years or longer, predetermined rental rate increases, and minimal landlord responsibilities.

This newly created Net Lease ETF is based on the Fundamental Income Net Lease Real Estate Index (NNNLSCTR) which is calculated by Nasdaq and aims to allow investors to benefit from these unique Net Lease REIT fundamentals. The NETLease ETF does not have exposure to multi-tenant malls, traditional office buildings and multifamily owners, all of whom have significant capital expenditures and operating expense obligations.

&a;ldquo;We are thrilled to be working with the Fundamental Income team to bring this timely and innovative fund to market,&a;rdquo; said J. Garrett Stevens, CEO of Exchange Traded Concepts. &a;ldquo;This Fund tracks the Net Lease real estate sector, which exemplifies consistent and predictable cash flows that Net Lease REITs derive from a diverse portfolio of corporate-leased properties. Great colleagues and great ideas are the true drivers of ETF success,&a;rdquo; continued Stevens. &a;ldquo;We&a;rsquo;re very pleased to add Fundamental Income and NETL to our growing list of affiliates and innovative ETF solutions.&a;rdquo; Chris Burbach, co-founder and Partner of Fundamental Income stated,

&l;blockquote&g;&a;ldquo;We started Fundamental Income with a simple view that investments with cash flows built upon identifiable underlying fundamentals, that are stable and predictable, should be worth more than those without a clear foundation or less certainty. Net Lease REITs have the potential to provide investment income and capital preservation, in a market searching for both, which is why we are excited to partner with ETC. We believe this ETF offers investors broad exposure to the tangible U.S. economy through the underlying predictable rents of NETL. The time has come for investors to shift their focus from property appearances to results and for Net Lease real estate to stand on its own &a;ndash; we created the Index to do just that.&a;rdquo;&l;/blockquote&g;

Burbach and co-founder Alexi Panagiokapoulos know the Net Lease REIT sector well as they formerly were employed with Store Capital (STOR) &a;ndash; Burbach was Executive VP of Underwriting and Panagiokapoulos specialized in credit and underwriting.

The new REIT ETF should create plenty of buzz as the portfolio of 24 REITs generates very stable revenues supported by over 23,000+ individual stand-alone properties. The ETF has no more than 3.5% exposure to any one tenant and no more than 20% exposure to any one tenant industry and no more than 5% exposure to any one state in the US (except Texas, which is the outlier at roughly 10%). The fee structure is 60 bps.

KaChing, KaChing&a;hellip;

That means, forget about the frig&a;rsquo;n 3 T&a;rsquo;s, just let NetLease ETF do all of the dirty work.

This new strategy is well thought-out, and I really like the fact that there is tremendous diversification across property sectors (24 REITs in the portfolio). It will be interesting to track this ETF, especially since we also recently created our own Net Lease REIT Index called &l;strong&g;SWANO&l;/strong&g;.

The participants include Store Capital, W.P. Carey (WPC), Agree Realty (ADC), National Retail Properties (NNN), and Realty Income (O). As most know, we also created an equity REIT Index called &l;strong&g;DAVOS&l;/strong&g;.

The participants include Digital Realty (DLR), American Tower (AMT), Ventas, Inc. (VTR), Realty Income (O), and Simon Properties.

In a few weeks (hopefully two) we plan to launch our new website and included in the iREIT Research Lab we will provide real-time results for over 30 REIT ETFs (including NetLease ETF), REIT Benchmarks, and our proprietary tracking indexes such as SWANO, DAVOS, and BLAST (our commercial mortgage REIT Index).

In closing: When it comes to Net Lease investing, there&a;rsquo;s really no need to be a market timer. I have made the argument for years and years on Seeking Alpha, there&a;rsquo;s one simple rule to remember when it comes to Net Lease REITs (Realty Income&a;rsquo;s former CEO, Tom Lewis, taught me this rule): &l;strong&g;5 + 5 = 10&l;/strong&g;

What this means is that when you decide to purchase shares in a Net Lease REIT, there&a;rsquo;s no reason to &a;ldquo;get too cute&a;rdquo;. You are typically going to obtain a dividend yield of approximately 5% (I know, blue chips like O are yielding much less now) and growth of another 5% (on average), and the result is an expected total return of 10%.

That&a;rsquo;s much easier than pulling artichokes out of the toilet, right?

The author does not own shares in NETL, but he does own shares in DLR, VTR, O, SPG, BXMT, LADR, STWD, TRTX, STOR, and WPC.

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Cramer Remix: Levi's stock is too rich to buy after its high-flying IPO

Levi Strauss & Co, the maker of Levi's jeans, kicked off the IPO frenzy by going public and making investors a lot of money, but the stock is now too high to buy, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

Shares of the jean company, which was founded in antebellum America, rocketed more than 30 percent during the session after listing at $17, as much as $3 higher than its expected offering. The stock closed at $22.41 in its return to public markets after spending more than three decades as a private company.

The "Mad Money" host noted that it's a high-quality brand, which includes Dockers and Denizen under its belt, and CEO Chip Bergh has turned the company around since taking over in 2011. But he warned that investors should not buy into the iconic name at just any price because there is no guarantee that Levi's will keep delivering rapid earnings growth.

This is an apparel stock and it's important to do security analysis, Cramer said.

"Levi's has been doing a great job in a tough business, but at the end of the day, I hate to chase a stock that's up big, and this one's already up enormously after its first day of trading," he said. "As much as I like Levi's the business ... Levi's the stock is too rich for me at these levels."

Get Cramer's full insight here

Slow growth? No problem Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 26, 2019.

Investors need not worry that the Federal Reserve induced a market "sea change" by calling off interest rate increases this year and adjust their game plan to make money, Cramer said.

The major averages all rose higher during the session on the agency's monetary policy reversal, he said.

"This is a dramatic shift—we don't need to worry about more rate hikes—and that's why it's causing a sea change in the stock market right now because we're in a low growth environment again," the host said.

Although Chairman Jerome Powell and the central bank reduced the forecast on GDP growth and inflation, there are more stocks that can perform well in low-growth rather than high-growth conditions, he added.

As a guideline, Cramer suggests picking stocks whose sales won't get knocked down by an easing economy, focusing on high-yielding dividend stocks, buying the fastest-growing names while inflation is near flat, and loading up on companies that do a lot of business overseas, including those impacted by the trade war with China, because the dollar is getting weaker.

See Cramer's playbook here

Billions with a 'b' Cameron Costa | CNBC Larry Merlo

The health care industry has reached $3.5 trillion and is "growing at an unsustainable rate," CVS CEO Larry Merlo told Cramer. The chief pointed out an estimated quarter of health care spending is wasteful and reducible and his company, in collaboration with Aetna, has a plan to reduce costs and boost the company's earnings.

"Percentage points are going to matter here," he said. "Being able to reduce those unnecessary costs, you know, the value created is going to start with a 'b' as in billion. That's the opportunity that's in front of us."

Read more here

Don't sleep on these three Zs Eric Piermont | AFP | Getty Images Zendesk co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane 

Cramer said tech is once again leading the market and the sector has even more importance now that it's stuck between the bulls' praising of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy and the bears' warning of the trade war with China.

The host said that three tech names that could be ready soar, according to his TheStreet.com colleague and Explosive Options founder Bob Lang's interpretation of the charts.

Those stocks are Zscaler, Zendesk, and Zebra Technologies.

Find out what the charts are showing here

Apple crossing S3studio | Getty Images A view of Apple Store at Festival Walk shopping mall in Mong Kok District on August 15 2018 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. 

Apple is becoming more and more ingrained in people's day-to-day lives and its customers can't get enough of its must-have services. Cramer suggested that this is a name to own and not trade, even if the stock drops.

Ahead of its much-anticipated TV announcement, the host explained how the iPhone maker can avoid a "serious beat down" next week.

"Simple, the company needs to care about more than handsets, and its investors need to do the same," he said. "This is the Apple that, at last, ignores what Wall Street tech analysts want—more iPhone sales—talks about how customer satisfaction, how ubiquity, how indispensability will create greater sales for the service businesses over time."

Hear more here

Cramer's lightning round: Microsoft has been 'unbelievable,' but should you buy it here?

In Cramer's lightning round, the "Mad Money" host ran through his thoughts about callers' stock picks:

Whitestone REIT: "Small real estate investment trust and retail in there., I don't trust these ones that yield more than ... 9 [percent]. That's too high. Something may be wrong. I don't want to touch it."

Microsoft Corp.: "Isn't it unbelievable? Look, [CEO] Satya Nadella he's doing a good job—won't come on the show, hurts my feelings, that's O.K. ... But here's the problem: Microsoft has been straight up. I am not going to tell someone to buy it right here. Let's wait for a pullback..."

Centene Corp.: "It's been down in the dumps. It's gotten away from ... it's out of fashion on the Wall Street fashion show, what can I say? Michael Neidorff's doing a great job. Right now these stocks are bad. They always come back, they do. I mean take a look at the chart. I'm banking with Neidorff right here, right now."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Apple and CVS.

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

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Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

Cramer: Powell fixed his 'rookie mistake' and is now on right path with rates

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell changed course and finally made the correct policy decision by indicating the Fed is stalling interest rate increases for the year, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

"I thought that Jay was great [Wednesday]," Cramer told "Squawk Box," referring to Powell's news conference at the conclusion of the central bank's two-day policy meeting. "It's not easy to start. You make your rookie mistakes, you come back. He's a great guy. Anyone who knows him knows that he course corrected."

The latest policy decision came as the list of economists and business elite predicting a downturn grows.

The Fed decided Wednesday to hold interest rates steady, as expected, and indicated it would keep rates at current levels for the rest of 2019. The central bank currently holds its benchmark funds rate in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent.

Speaking after the Fed's decision, Powell said that weakening Chinese and European economies are acting as a deterrent to growth at home even as policymakers see the overall outlook in the U.S. as good.

Cramer agreed, saying the "economy is slowing," earnings are downshifting and there are growth concerns in just about every part of the world.

Cramer has been critical of the Fed ever since Powell's remarks on Oct. 3 that the cost of borrowing money was a long way from so-called neutral, sparking concerns about possibly more aggressive Fed tightening. Powell appeared to walk back those comments the following month, saying rates are "just below" the balance point of not stimulating or slowing the economy.

Powell later left the door open to other options, emphasizing "data dependency" and saying if data did not hold up in 2019, the Fed may change course.

Cramer said last month that he doesn't see an economic recession, at least anytime soon. But when asked about what would cause the next recession, Cramer responded in part with, "Three [Fed] tightenings."

The Fed did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Cramer's remarks.

— CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

Movers & Shakers: Eicher Motors, Torrent Power, Thermax, Parsvnath Developers

Bulls have once again made a comeback in the afternoon trade on March 19 as Nifty50 added 75 points, trading at 11,538 whereas Sensex gained 296 points, trading at 38,391.

Nifty PSU Bank along with Nifty Energy are the outperforming sectors led by gains from Bank of India, PNB and Union Bank of India while from the energy space, the top gainers are Reliance Industries, HPCL, GAIL India and ONGC.

Here's a look at the top stock movers with respect to volumes:

Torrent Power was trading with volumes of 47,006,399 shares, compared to its five day average of 40,292 shares, an increase of 116,565.51 percent. Also, Thermax was trading with volumes of 412,158 shares, compared to its five day average of 7,295 shares, an increase of 5,549.56 percent.

related news D-Street Buzz: PSU banks extend gains, ITC jumps 2%; RIL most active Jet Airways plunges 5% as report claims Etihad may not invest further Kaveri Seed rises 3% on launch of a new facility at Telangana

Parsvnath Developers was trading with volumes of 1,202,866 shares, compared to its five day average of 29,261 shares, an increase of 4,010.82 percent and witnessed a spurt in volume by more than 45.36 times and touched upper circuit of Rs 7.78.

Natco Pharma was trading with volumes of 848,108 shares, compared to its five day average of 21,312 shares, an increase of 3,879.52 percent and saw a spurt in volume by more than 49.18 times.

Eicher Motors was trading with volumes of 68,906 shares, compared to its five day average of 3,259 shares, an increase of 2,014.20 percent. The stock saw a spurt in volume by more than 13.02 times.

Finolex Industries was trading with volumes of 52,048 shares, compared to its five day average of 5,516 shares, an increase of 843.51 percent. The stock saw a spurt in volume by more than 6.94 times. Also, Future Retail was trading with volumes of 179,103 shares, compared to its five day average of 35,390 shares, an increase of 406.09 percent. The stock witnessed a spurt in volume by more than 4.64 times. First Published on Mar 19, 2019 03:33 pm

Oracle (ORCL) Q3 2019 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Q3 2019 Earnings Conference CallMarch 14, 2019 5:00 p.m. ET

Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Welcome to Oracle's third-quarter 2019 earnings conference call. Now I'd like to turn today's call over to Ken Bond, senior vice president.

Ken Bond -- Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Oracle's third quarter fiscal-year 2019 earnings conference call. A copy of the press release and financial tables, which includes a GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation and other supplemental financial information, can be viewed and downloaded from our Investor Relations website. On the call today are Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison, and CEO Safra Catz, and Mark Hurd.

As a reminder, today's discussion will include forward-looking statements, including predictions, expectations, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking. Throughout today's discussion, we will present some important factors relating to our business, which may potentially affect these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are also subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from statements made today. As a result, we caution you against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and we encourage you to review our most recent reports, including our 10-K and 10-Q, and any applicable amendment for a complete discussion of these factors and other risks that may affect our future results or the market price of our stock.

And finally, we are not obligating ourselves to revise our results or publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. Before taking questions, we'll begin with a few prepared remarks. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Safra.

Safra Catz -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Ken. Good afternoon, everyone. I'll first go over Q3 results before moving on to guidance. I'll then turn the call over to Mark and Larry.

As in prior quarters, I'll review our non-GAAP results using constant dollar growth rate, unless I say otherwise. Total Cloud Services and License Support revenue for the quarter was $6.7 billion, up 4% in constant currency, and now accounts for nearly 70% of total company revenue, largely recurring revenue. As in past quarters, we're seeing robust double-digit growth rates for total cloud revenue in all regions, with especially strong growth in Asia Pacific. In terms of product categories, ERP grew in the mid-30s and the verticals grew in the high 30s.

Our software business, which is the totaling of Cloud Services and License Support revenue with Cloud License and On-Premise License revenue is 82% of total revenue and it grew 3% in constant currency. Our software business has remained extremely stable and resilient as we have made the transition to faster-growing SaaS business that entailed trading nonrecurring upfront license revenue for recurrent long-term subscription revenue. Through adoption of autonomous database and OCI, we're now shifting the focus for our infrastructure business to the cloud. As a percentage of our total software business, cloud is now more than double what it was just three years ago and provides us with the ability to accelerate overall software revenue growth as this mix shift continues.

GAAP applications total revenue were $2.8 billion, up 7%, and GAAP infrastructure total revenue were $5.1 billion, up 2%. The gross margin for Cloud Services and License Support was 86%, essentially the same as last year with continuing improvement in SaaS gross margins, stability in software support growth gross margins and continued investment in Oracle cloud infrastructure. Once our cloud business is at scale, I expect our gross margins will go significantly higher. Total revenue for the quarter was $9.6 billion, up 3% from last year.

Non-GAAP operating income was $4.3 billion, up 5% from last year, and the operating margins was 44%, up from 43% last year. This quarter last year was greatly impacted by the change in the U.S. tax book, so comparing the GAAP numbers is not very meaningful after pre-tax income. The non-GAAP tax rate for the quarter was 20%, up from 16% catch-up rate last year, and non-GAAP EPS was $0.87 in USD, and up 12% in constant currency.

This quarter, the GAAP tax rate was 11% and GAAP EPS was $0.76. Operating cash flow over the last four quarters is $14.8 billion. Over the last four quarters, capital expenditures were $1.6 billion and free cash flow was $13.2 billion, down 1% due to timing differences of tax payments and working capital items. We have more than $40 billion in cash and marketable securities.

The short-term deferred revenue balance is $8 billion, up 5% in constant currency. The remaining performance obligations, or what I'll refer to as contract backlog, will be in the Q, and is now $31.5 billion, of which approximately 62% will be recognized as revenue over the next 12 months. Since we remain committed to returning value to shareholders through acquisitions, internal investments and a return of capital with stock repurchases and dividends, this quarter, we repurchased 206 million shares for a total of $10 billion. Over the last 12 months, we repurchased 728 million shares and reduced the absolute shares outstanding by nearly 16%.

And the Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend 26% from $0.19 to $0.24 per share. Turning to currency. I expect the strengthening U.S. dollar will continue with a currency headwind of 3% for Q4 revenue and a $0.03 headwind to earnings per share.

OK. So with that, let me turn to the guidance. So for Q4, total revenues are expected to grow 1% to 3% in constant currency and zero to negative 2% in U.S. dollars.

Non-GAAP EPS in constant currency is expected to grow between 15% to 19%, and be between $1.08 and $1.12 in constant currency, so we will deliver double-digit non-GAAP EPS growth for fiscal year 2019. Taking into account the $0.03 currency headwind, non-GAAP EPS for Q4 in USD is expected to grow between 12% and 16%, and be between $1.05 and $1.09 in USD. My EPS guidance assumes a base tax rate of 20%. However, onetime tax events could cause actual tax rates for any given quarter to vary from our base tax rate, but I expect that in normalizing for onetime tax events, our tax rate will average around 20%.

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Mark for his comments.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Safra. Thanks. Solid quarter for us, from top to bottom. Total revenue was up 3% in constant currency with Cloud Services and License Support, up 4% and EPS 12% -- plus 12% in constant currency.

In our apps ecosystem, we continued our momentum, growing at 7%, and that was an acceleration for us, and over $11 billion in trailing 12-months revenue and 92% of that is now recurring. We continue to grow revenue faster than market, and we have an enormous opportunity ahead of us in ERP and HCM. In terms of SaaS revenue and bookings, Fusion apps were up 35%. By the way, our overall ERP and HCM annualized SaaS revenue is now $2.8 billion, and that's up in the mid-20s.

Turn to Fusion apps, 35% up, Fusion ERP with -- revenue was up 47% organically. NetSuite revenue was up 28%. Bookings were up actually even higher in the mid-30s. Our vertical revenue was up 38%, and our annualized revenue in the verticals is now over $800 million.

I'm going to read you a quick quote from IDC, and I have to read it precisely or I'll get cards and letters. So let me just make sure I do this exactly as it's written. "Per IDC's latest annual market share results, Oracle is the No. 1 enterprise applications vendor in North America based on market share and revenue, surpassing Salesforce.com and SAP." We've seen this momentum building, so this is not any surprise to us, but I think it's always better when you can see it in real numbers from somebody other than us.

Let me switch briefly to infrastructure. Our GAAP tech ecosystem is $21 billion on a trailing 12-months basis and Q3 was up 2%. In Autonomous Database, our momentum continues to build. We now have 4,000 new trials that were added in Q3 alone, nearly 1,000 paying customers.

We're adding many new customers and we're seeing great pull-through and with 20% of our autonomous data warehouse trials also using analytics. We now have over 35 referenceable customers and we expect to be greater than 100 soon. Cloud and customer revenue was up triple digits for the fourth consecutive quarter. So overall, a solid quarter, as we hit our revenue targets and saw a 12% EPS growth.

The strength of our bookings growth along with climbing renewal rates gives me the confidence that our cloud apps business is only going to strengthen from here and going forward, given the visibility we have into the revenue backlog, which Safra touched on a bit earlier. Looking forward, I do expect FY '20 revenue growth will be higher than FY '19. And EPS this year will be certainly -- grow double digits, as Safra mentioned. I'm going to give you a few customer wins as well, try to give you a flavor for what happened in the quarter for us.

Now most of these didn't affect our revenue, most of these obviously are all really bookings that occurred in the quarter, but I thought I'd give you some context about some people in our user base as well as outside our user base. So for example, Tromp Group in the Netherlands E-Business Suite migration; MasterBrand Cabinets in the U.S. in E-Business Suite migration; thyssenkrupp in Germany in E-Business Suite migration; Willis Towers Watson E-Business Suite migration. I gave you those, just a few of those examples.

Those are core, sort of, E-Business Suite, Black & Veatch was another one engineering company, core, sort of, E-Business Suite customers as we see this acceleration of our user base move into the cloud. Got a couple PeopleSoft ERP migrations, Amica Mutual in the quarter, Depaul University. And then a slew of wins again. And I referenced that a lot of the ERP user base that's out there today is outside of our user base or even our traditional on-premise competitor from, if you will, the old days.

ON semiconductor, nice win in the quarter. Packaging Corporation of America, again, outside of our user base for the quarter. Eaton, leather manufacturer. [Inaudible] in the Netherlands.

I could go on, which, in the sake of time, I won't, although I mentioned Ashford Hospitality. These are, again, outside our user base that are brand-new customers to Oracle in the area of ERP. In HCM, Abu Dhabi Airports; ADT; Alorica; BLOM BANK; Great Canadian Gaming. We had a really nice win in the company called the Nova Healthcare.

This again was not inside our user base. These were attritional Lawson customer, where we actually get multipillar ERP back-office and HCM connected together. So anyway, I'll stop there in the sake of time, but just to really, again, very impressive set of customers and a good mix of net new logos as well as movement from our user base. We had a pretty good quarter and it was some really quality names on the platform side.

Fair Isaac, Generali insurance services in Italy; JOANN Stores; Trans Italia; Unicorp, I mean some really nice beginnings of what you're seeing as we move toward Gen 2 cloud and Autonomous Database. I did want to make a couple of quick comments in our growing relationship with The Gap. So it was a global retailer. It's, I think, most of you know with revenue of greater than $16 billion, and we've been working with The Gap in their transformation to what's really a multi-cloud environment but using many, many Oracle Technologies, may include really everything we got SaaS, PaaS, delivering innovation, reliability and scalability at every turn.

And as part of even the things they're using in the private cloud, those are all really enabled by Exadata, and we're really thrilled to be Gap's strategic partner in their efforts to spin up their new retail brands and stores faster. And so that's the few quick wins for the quarter. So overall, good solid quarter for us on the income statement side, but also in the quality of these bookings that we're describing or that I have been describing. And with that, I'll turn it over to Larry.

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

Thank you, Mark. Oracle's future rests on two strategic businesses: cloud applications and Cloud Infrastructure. The growth in our cloud applications business has been driven by our Fusion Suite and NetSuite. Both the Fusion Suite of applications and NetSuite are growing very, very rapidly, and Mark gave you the numbers.

As the names imply, both Fusion and NetSuite are integrated suites of applications, including sales, service, human resources, financials, supply chain and manufacturing applications. No other cloud services provider has such a comprehensive suite of applications covering both the front office and the back office. Most customers want their cloud services provider to make their applications work together. Customers do not like to be responsible for the complex process of integrating lots of different applications, running on lots of different vendors' clouds.

We think our integrated suite approach to the cloud applications business is a primary reason for the very rapid growth in our cloud applications market share. The introduction of our Gen 2, a highly secure infrastructure, featuring the Oracle Autonomous Database has been very well received. During Q3, we had nearly 1,000 paying Autonomous Database customers and over 4,000 active trials. Our infrastructure technology is highly differentiated from AWS.

Each one of our cloud computers has a separate security processor and memory to insulate customers from intruding upon each other. And it also makes our cloud control code inaccessible by customers. No other cloud services provider offers this kind of protection across their entire public cloud. The Oracle Autonomous Database is the only database that can respond to a security threat by automatically patching itself while it's still running your application.

No downtime is required. No other database has this capability. Oracle Technology leadership in cloud infrastructure and database plus our market leadership in cloud applications makes us very optimistic about our future. I'll turn it back to you, operator. 

Questions and Answers:

Ken Bond -- Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

Operator, if we could move to the Q&A portion of the call, please?

Operator

[Operator instructions] Our first question comes from Heather Bellini with Goldman Sachs.

Heather Bellini -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Thank you. Good afternoon, Mark. I wanted to ask a question of you. Last month when we were together at our tech conference, you reiterated that fiscal second half '19 sales growth would accelerate on a constant-currency basis versus the first half, and I'm not trying to be nitpicky but I think it doesn't look like it's accelerating much.

So I was just wondering if anything changed. And I also wanted to ask about fiscal '20, which you've just mentioned that fiscal '20 constant currency growth would be higher than fiscal '19. I guess what I'm wondering is should we be thinking that that constant currency growth acceleration that you're referring to for fiscal '20 is similar to the type of acceleration on the second half of fiscal '19? Or could it be more meaningful? Thank you.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

Yes. So let's go back to it. I think '19 will grow faster than '18. Second half is, whatever adjective is around it, grow faster than first half.

FY '20, faster than '19. When you're getting underneath at what are the drivers, at a big level, first, our growing businesses are becoming a bigger part of our total than our other businesses. So as an example, just one example, cloud ERP gets bigger, hardware gets smaller, obviously, those have offsetting effects. In addition, we have the things that attach with that, for example, our consulting services business now in on-premise has been declining, but our cloud consulting is inclining as does our overall bookings.

So as a result, these just offset each other. Within it, clearly, I've given you the numbers on certain parts of our apps as the example of ERP and HCM, which are just growing substantively. Larry's comments about Autonomous Database are two huge drivers of growth as we go forward. So I think all of those statements, '19 versus '18, second half, first half, '19 to '20 are all where you're going to see acceleration of top-line growth in CD.

Operator

Your next question comes from John DiFucci with Jefferies and company.

John DiFucci -- Jefferies and Company -- Analyst

Thank you. So your aggregate results have been, I guess, relatively steady might be the right way to characterize it. And during this period, I think investors really appreciate the share buybacks and the dividend, nice dividend increase this quarter. I guess, I want to sort of follow on with that line of thinking, Mark, and this uptick in fiscal '20.

You talked a lot about your cloud apps and we get a lot of information on that, but can you talk a little bit about what extent the database options might be a driver to some of that revenue acceleration? And how big is the middleware business at this point?

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

I'll start. I'll let Larry comment also a bit on the trends. I think, first, just when we get into on the database side, I mean, the big move here is to autonomous. I think we try to give you some numbers of the level of interest.

The level of -- the increased in interest coming from even Q -- end of Q1, early Q2 into Q3 was just substantive. It won't show up in our revenue numbers yet, but I'm talking about in terms of trials and people testing, and now, frankly, people buying. And what we've even seen is -- what's really nice, somebody buying something for as small as 15, 20, 25K as their first move into Autonomous Database, and actually even within the quarter making a second purchase that turns into 200K, 250K, these are really encouraging early signs for us. And then to the point that you bring up, we just don't get the database, we get analytics, we get other services that come with it.

So as we continue to convert trials into real usage, real usage into expansion, this becomes a core key driver as we move forward. I'll let Larry follow on with other parts of the options.

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

Yes. As people use Autonomous Database in the public cloud, they typically got and buy the multitenant option and the Real Application Cluster option, which are required options for Autonomous Database. So there's no question that the introduction of Autonomous Database and the consumption of Autonomous Database as that accelerates, will increase the license purchases of those two options.

John DiFucci -- Jefferies and Company -- Analyst

And just the second part of my question, you used to talk about middleware and how it was -- on-premise middleware stuff wasn't growing all that -- or is declining. I'm just curious, can you tell us even just roughly how big that is at this point? Because Mark, you sort of alluded to some of these other businesses that weren't growing or getting smaller and smaller.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

We never break that out, John. So to my knowledge, unless -- I'm not going to break -- I'm not going to start breaking that today. But clearly, middleware is moving, if you will, from, like everything else, from on-premise into the cloud. We've got a full suite of services in the cloud, but we're not going to break it out into a discrete business today.

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

Yes. I can tell you a couple of parts in middleware are doing quite well. I mean I think it's a mixed story. I think analytics are doing very well in the cloud as Mark mentioned, 20% of Autonomous Database goes up with analytics and John, we had a very good quarter.

John DiFucci -- Jefferies and Company -- Analyst

Thank you.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

One last point while -- since we did do a little bit of that. Security is faster growing businesses as we can have within the context of the middleware business as well. So again, the problem, middleware, it's not a thing. It's multiple products within it.

Some, like many things we've talked about, many things growing fast and things declining simultaneously.

John DiFucci -- Jefferies and Company -- Analyst

It's great. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from Phil Winslow with Wells Fargo.

Phil Winslow -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst

Great. Thanks for taking my question. I just want to build on John's question there about the reacceleration ahead of us in database. When I think about what really differentiates Oracle and cloud, it's the Gen 2 OCI that we continue to get increasing positive data points on but then also adding autonomous platform on top of it.

And so my question is with the TOMS data warehouse being out for a year and the transactional processing being out since August. How should we be thinking about those two kind of combined to the reacceleration on top of ACI? And you mentioned the 1,000 customers and 4,000 trials, what is actually the driver of people shifting over? Is it speed? Is it cost? Is it performance? Just some more color on that would be great, so timing and then why.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

I'll let Larry start.

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

OK. All right. So the driver is many different things. Some of our customers were stunned that they can get a database up and running in five minutes.

So we've been collecting references and studying the 1,000 customers and the 4,000 trials, and what they find encouraging about the Autonomous Database. Certainly, we'll call it productivity improvements. The fact that they can go from not having a database, not having a hardware, literally log on to our cloud, create an instance, get -- move their data and be up and running and doing the useful things in five minutes is proving to be a shock to a lot of our customers. So getting things up and running quickly.

Productivity has been a very big issue. We've got one customer who's done a series of tests, they were an AWS user, and I know we have these ads that promise cut your AWS bill in half. They found that we were running 11.5 times faster than they were running in AWS, and they cut their bill by 80%. So that's -- and these are university researchers, so they're very, very cost sensitive and they felt it was worthwhile making the move just because we were much less expensive.

Autonomous Database was way less expensive than Redshift or Aurora at Amazon. Some people, they had an existing data warehouse and with just the compatibility, being able to take an existing data warehouse, not spooling up a new one in five minutes, but taking an existing data warehouse, lifting it and shifting it over. So we're seeing all three of those use cases. Productivity -- motivators, I should say.

Productivity, compatibility and cost, all driving the usage of Autonomous Database.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

So I'd say that we've never had a release in the database area where we could actually talk to a CEO about what was in the release and the CEO would go, I completely get it. I mean it's not like we're talking about partitioning or something like that. When you talk about the fact that this database patches itself, our customers at the CEO level now understand what a patch is. They understand why it's so important, why it's so strategic.

They, in many cases, have to discuss it with their audit committees. And the fact that now patching goes from a problem to where they pass that to us and it gets done instantaneously, we have many customers who said, if this thing did nothing but that, I would migrate to Autonomous Database. If the fact that -- you add to the fact to Larry's point that this database tunes itself, creates all its own index, is it actually it's labor less and can you reapply talent to another area. If it did nothing but that, it would be valuable.

If it did nothing but give you better security and give you pricing performance, and so this is a release that the reason you're seeing the trials and the level why you hear our enthusiasm the way it is, is the customer response is just extremely high because it just makes business sense. This isn't something sold five levels down or four levels down in the order. This can be sold at the top of the company, if you will, at the CEO level. So it's why it's such an exciting release test because at this point it has so many business benefits to our customers as opposed to maybe the fact that you would think of traditionally many of our benefits being, if you will, technical.

It's different explaining to a CEO what multitenant is and what in-memory is than frankly the benefits I've just described.

Phil Winslow -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst

Well, knowing how much we spend on patching, I've got a lead for your CRMs with them.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

I'll stop -- I won't get too specific into your situation, but you're a good use case with a -- a very large bank with a tremendous amount of Oracle that, frankly, in many ways, done a fantastic job, but still has a window that has to be closed. And this -- in terms of patch deployment, then this is one vehicle to -- certainly, a vehicle and the only vehicle I'm aware of to get that done.

Phil Winslow -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst

Well, if Safra can give me some coentertainment for that reference, that will be great. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from Raimo Lenschow with Barclays.

Raimo Lenschow -- Barclays -- Analyst

Hey. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to go back to the apps ecosystem. Mark, can you talk about NetSuite because that's accelerated again this quarter.

And obviously, just wondering, like look, when we talked about a few quarters ago, it was like we tried to bring it over 20, but now we're in the high 20s, was there anything special going on? Or is that kind of -- is there anything in terms of new run rate that we need to be aware of?

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, I mean, as I've said on multiple calls in a row, they've been doing very well. I mean, this started tremendous acceleration we have last Q4 when their bookings growth was over 70%. And you're just beginning to see that turn into now revenue. So I believe the new rate is sustainable.

And I actually think we can do better. And our strategy has been very simple, and -- but I know I've said it before, but it's been, frankly, no more complicated than adding salespeople internationally and domestically. We've done both to, if you will, localize the product for more countries. We've done many new countries that we've now released.

In addition to that, we've been building out more verticals, what we call SuiteSuccess, where we actually bundled in the implementation with what we sell. And that's very, very popular with our customers. And so I think the team has also done a marvelous job executionally. And it's -- I know I say my comments pretty quick, but as much as the revenue grew in the quarter, our bookings actually grew faster than the revenue.

And so we're very excited about NetSuite. We have been excited about NetSuite, and I think that we'll continue to perform. And I actually think we can do better than even what I've just described today.

Raimo Lenschow -- Barclays -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from Michael Turits with Raymond James.

Michael Turits -- Raymond James -- Analyst

Hey, guys. Good evening. So you've been seeing accelerating growth in cloud, ERP and HCM and other areas of cloud. Is that growing -- accelerating enough and becoming a big enough piece of the business that we can now start to see an acceleration in the cloud business overall, which has had some other headwinds.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

I mean, I guess I'll start. As I said in my comments, ERP and HCM are becoming a bigger and bigger part of our business. I mean, today, our annual SaaS revenues, ERP and HCM is approaching $3 billion. It's growing sort of mid-20s.

And I think it's going to get nothing but better than better. Again, I don't want to get too positive. Only in the context that we're beginning to see acceleration in some key parts. So we're very focused on our competitors by brand and by industry.

We deploy our sales force against those brands and against those industries as well as into our own user base. And the reason I read the references the way I read them was so you get a flavor that both our own user base is beginning to move in bigger numbers as well as the fact that we get competitive. Remember, most of that user base is not sitting with us or our traditional on-premise competitor. So yes, I mean, clearly it's a point to what I made earlier, and I'll stop after this to say that our growing businesses are becoming bigger and bigger, and you start putting the growth rates I'm describing on numbers like $3 billion, and you can do your own math.

And so we're very confident, and feel very good about our position in those businesses.

Michael Turits -- Raymond James -- Analyst

Thanks, Mark. And if I could a follow-up quick one for Safra. Safra, you managed to keep capex low even with the OCI investment, any reason to expect a change in that trajectory? Will we be spending more capital?

Safra Catz -- Chief Executive Officer

No. I'd say it should be very similar this next quarter to this past quarter. And for the year, it's basically the same. Just a little bit less than last year.

So that's kind of what we're looking at. Of course, if there's a huge opportunity, we may push the gaps a little more. But you have to understand that our SaaS operation is really, really coming and we're getting enormous economies of scale there. That's why the margins keep improving, and so we're able to sort of do it all within the same investment envelope so far.

Michael Turits -- Raymond James -- Analyst

Thank you, guys.

Operator

Your next question comes from Mark Moerdler with Bernstein Research.

Mark Moerdler -- Bernstein Research -- Analyst

Thank you very much for taking my question. I'm going to do something I haven't done in a while, I'm going to take a bit of liberty and ask two questions. The first is for Safra. You talked a bit on the call about cash flow, which has grown double digits, but was down roughly 1%, and you gave some color on the call, but can you talk a little bit more about the underlying factors here? Was timing or your definition of when you recognize cash flow having an impact? Are there other things that are impacting that cash? And then I have a follow-up for more.

Safra Catz -- Chief Executive Officer

I mean there are two things going on. If you look just at the quarter, it's nothing but cash collections, timing of cash collections. Nothing more really than that to focus in on. If you look at year to date, which you may look at in one of the other schedule, it's that and some tax payments.

And that's really the two things going on. So nothing special going on. It happens every once in a while. If you look back previous years, you will see that, and it's a very Q3 thing, frankly because, by then, we're collecting up a lot of previous quarters' bookings -- billings, excuse me, so that's really it.

Nothing special.

Mark Moerdler -- Bernstein Research -- Analyst

Then as a follow-up to Mark, given some color on the Autonomous Database, like can you specifically discuss the types of workloads that are driving adoption of autonomous, and especially new clients, for -- autonomous revenue clients to the Oracle Database?

Safra Catz -- Chief Executive Officer

Larry?

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

I think the question police ought to get you for announcing you're going to ask two questions as opposed to just doing it.

Mark Moerdler -- Bernstein Research -- Analyst

Sorry, Mark. I said I'd be polite about it.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

Yes. No, that was very thoughtful. Larry, you want to start in on that one?

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

Sure. I mean, there are a lot -- database does a lot of different things. The researchers that I mentioned earlier that are moving from AWS for a big cost savings, they're doing a combination of machine learning and computer vision to look at tissue samples and detect anomalous cells. Cancer based kit are using computers to diagnose cancer and then that's a combination of machine learning and the Autonomous Database.

And that's an all new application. So there are several people that are coming in with all new applications in the cloud. Especially the ones moving from AWS. Then there are traditional on-premise customers, who are simply taking one of their millions of Oracle databases, there are millions of these things out there and just lifting one of those databases either transaction processing and the associated application, either transaction processing application or a data warehousing application, just lifting it intact, moving the data over and moving the application over to compute, moving the data over to Autonomous Database, and running the same exact thing in the cloud.

They're experiencing, sometimes shocking performance improvements also. I know we have one customer that moved from on-premise into the cloud and the cloud system ran many times faster than their on-premise system. Then there are customers that are moving new -- existing big Oracle customers that are moving new development. The new applications that they're developing from developing them on-premise, they move test and development into the cloud.

And they are the ones that, again, the general reaction there is they're much, much more productive getting running. It's much cheaper to do test and development, much more responsive, much more productive to move test and development from their on-premise infrastructure to the cloud infrastructure. So online transaction and processing, lifting and shifting applications, data warehousing lifting and shifting, test and development, moving from AWS, there are lots of different use cases.

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

Just a couple of quick follow ons, one, I'm doing this off the top of my head, Mark, but I'm roughly right. 20% of our customers in autonomous data warehouse or in Autonomous Database right now are net new to Oracle, we did not have them before, net new. And 80% are in our user base, roughly 70%, 75%, there's net no competition at all and the transaction is simply, as Larry described, a migration. 75% are actually into the LOB as opposed to IT, which I look at is very good news as well.

So we've got a lot of underpinning improving dynamics -- in my opinion, they're improving dynamics, in terms of net new customers in addition to moving of our database and certainly analytical data warehousing is probably the biggest individual driver of anything we've got.

Mark Moerdler -- Bernstein Research -- Analyst

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Operator

And your next question comes from Brad Zelnick with Credit Suisse.

Brad Zelnick -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

Excellent. Thanks so much. My question is for Mark. Mark, as we think about the traction you're seeing in cloud ERP and where the demand is coming from, there's the massive on-premise install base opportunity, but I think some might not appreciate that more than half of the market is the long tail of niche legacy vendors that most people haven't even heard of.

Can you just give us a sense for your success in displacing that long tail? How much you think you're participating there versus the more usual suspects?

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

By the way, I think that's exactly right, what you said. So I think it's common thought that the ERP market on-premise is dominated by two vendors: Oracle and the company from Germany. And those two vendors together have less than 50% of the market. We have more Fortune 500 customers, for example.

They have many big customers, but the blizzard of implementations -- or there's a blizzard of companies that have the more than 50% market share, 54%, 55%, most of them have moved into private equity. They're not even public companies. They're on their second or third term through private equity. They've got no migration plan to the cloud.

They've got 2G -- I could go on and on with all of these. And that's why as I mentioned earlier, we actually line up our development resources and our sales resources, very focused on these competitors. They would have names like, I mentioned a couple like McCormack & Dodge, if you've heard of them. IBM, believe it or not, actually has got an old ERP system.

There's a company called Deltek, I mean, there's a company called Lawson, a company called ETHICA, there's tens and tens of these to your point, and these are old, old pieces of code. These need to move. They need to move to a more modern platform and they are, perhaps, as attractive as any other market. And in fairness, our user base actually knows our cloud roadmap.

They actually have confidence in our R&D. They know we're going to be there to migrate them when they want to be there. They actually have less of a sense of urgency, in many cases, to move than the companies you're describing, Brad, because they're in much more desperate situations without a roadmap, without knowing how they're going to get from here to there, knowing their competitors are beginning to move. So we have as much success today, and if you ask one of our salespeople, would you rather have one of these competitive territories where you're going after one of these niche vendors? Or would you rather have an E-Business Suite territory? Many of our salespeople say give me that competitive territory because there's an absolute need to move as quick as you can.

So yes, it's an incredibly attractive market and it's why you hear us keep talking about it so much because the addition of fact is when we sell ERP, we continue to see an attach rate to HCM, and, frankly, an attach rate to even some of our other apps in the CX and front office area as well, so it's why we're so focused on that opportunity.

Brad Zelnick -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

Awesome. Thanks for the color.

Operator

I will now turn the call back over to Ken Bond.

Ken Bond -- Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

OK, great. Thank you. A telephone replay of this conference call will be available for 24 hours. Dial-in information can be found in the press release issued earlier today.

Please call the Investor Relations department for any follow-up questions from this call, and we look forward to speaking with you. Thank you for joining us today. With that, I'll turn the call back to the operator for closing.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 46 minutes

Call Participants:

Ken Bond -- Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

Safra Catz -- Chief Executive Officer

Mark Hurd -- Chief Executive Officer

Larry Ellison -- Chairman and Chief Technology Officer

Heather Bellini -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

John DiFucci -- Jefferies and Company -- Analyst

Phil Winslow -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst

Raimo Lenschow -- Barclays -- Analyst

Michael Turits -- Raymond James -- Analyst

Mark Moerdler -- Bernstein Research -- Analyst

Brad Zelnick -- Credit Suisse -- Analyst

More ORCL analysis

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These cars are so hot they're out of stock

New models and long-time favorites share the list of the 26 quickest-selling vehicles in the United States last year. The level of demand is based on the number of days it takes for a dealer to sell a car, also known as days to turn, with top movers taking from 19.9 days to 46.6 days to find buyers.

Though consumers show a preference for familiar models that have been refreshed multiple times over decades, there are some surprises at the top of the list, where there are a trio of brand-new models.

With consumers preferences shifting to crossovers and SUVs in the last decade, it comes as no surprise to find these types of vehicles dwarfing competitors in sales and sales speed. A mere handful of sedans are represented here compared with 17 SUVs and crossovers. Perhaps surprisingly, only one pickup appears in the lineup, the Toyota Tacoma. A coupe and a pair of hatchbacks round out the roster.

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The demand list also skews toward the high end, evidenced by 15 luxury models versus 11 mass-market vehicles. International brands are strongly represented, with models including three American, seven European, and 16 Asian models.

High demand does not necessarily indicate a high volume of sales. Some models on this list sell well into the hundreds of thousands, but others do not even hit five digits. Tracking how long it takes for units to sell helps manufacturers decide how many vehicles to produce the following year.

Not selling so fast: These car models from BMW to Mercedes to Toyota

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24/7 Wall St. reviewed the average number of days each model sat on a dealer lot before being sold in 2018 in the United States, based on data provided by Kelley Blue Book. These are the 26 cars that sold in less than 50 days in 2018.

Toyota Tacoma (Photo: Courtesy of Toyota)

26. Toyota Tacoma

• Average days on lot: 49.6
• 2018 sales: 245,659
• 2017 sales: 198,124
• Starting at: $25,700

The only pickup on the list, the third-generation Toyota Tacoma is a midsize old-school workhorse known for its off-road capabilities. Introduced in 1995, Tacoma sales last year in the U.S. climbed to more than 245,000, up from below 200,000 in 2017.

25. Lexus ES

• Average days on lot: 49.5
• 2018 sales: 48,482
• 2017 sales: 51,398
• Starting at: $39,600

Now in its seventh generation, the entry-level luxury sedan Lexus ES remains popular after nearly three decades in production. The ES is among five Lexus models on this list, along with two models from Toyota, the Lexus parent company.

24. Toyota Camry

• Average days on lot: 49.4
• 2018 sales: 343,439
• 2017 sales: 387,081
• Starting at: $23,945

The Toyota Camry, a mass-market midsize sedan, was introduced in 1982, and is now in its eighth generation. Completely redesigned in 2018, the perennial best-seller does not stay on dealers' lots for long waiting for a buyer -- just 49.5 days on average in 2018.

23. Subaru Forester

• Average days on lot: 49.0
• 2018 sales: 171,613
• 2017 sales: 177,563
• Starting at: $24,295

The Subaru Forester, a compact mass-market SUV, appeared on our list in the number 10 slot last year. Now in its fifth generation, the Forester underwent a complete redesign, yielding more room for passengers and cargo, plus more tech as standard gear. Introduced in 1997, the Forester is one of four Subarus on our list this year.

22. Lexus RC

• Average days on lot: 49.0
• 2018 sales: 3,358
• 2017 sales: 7,363
• Starting at: $41,145

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The only two-door luxury coupe on our 2019 list, the Lexus RC is a spinoff of the maker's IS sedan. Introduced in 2014, the RC is still in its first generation. This year's model has a refreshed look, with a redesigned grill, headlights, taillights and wheels.

21. Subaru Outback

• Average days on lot: 48.9
• 2018 sales: 178,854
• 2017 sales: 188,886
• Starting at: $26,345

One of four Subarus on the list this year, the midsize mass-market crossover Outback is now in its fifth generation since its 1995 model year debut. Sales declined somewhat in 2018 from the previous year, but buyers are still flocking to this car, which does not linger on dealers' lots for long.

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SUBCOMPACT CAR: Toyota Yaris ToyotaFullscreenHYBRID/ELECTRIC CAR: Toyota Prius Frederic J. Brown, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreenFULL-SIZED PICKUP TRUCK: Ford F-150 Gene J. Puskar, APFullscreenMIDSIZED CAR: Toyota Camry Hybrid Ian Langsdon, EPA-EFEFullscreenCOMPACT LUXURY CAR: Audi A4 Jim Fets, AudiFullscreenLARGE CAR: Toyota Avalon Hybrid Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press-USA TODAY NetworkFullscreenLUXURY SUV: BMW X5 Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAYFullscreenSUBCOMPACT SUV: Hyundai Kona Romain Blanquart, Detroit Free Press-USA TODAY NetworkFullscreenCOMPACT SUV: Subaru Forester Danielle Parhizkaran, for USA TODAYFullscreenMIDSIZED SUV: Subaru Ascent Mark Phelan, Detroit Free PressFullscreenInterested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:Replay1 of 102 of 103 of 104 of 105 of 106 of 107 of 108 of 109 of 1010 of 10AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide20. Hyundai Kona

• Average days on lot: 48.8
• 2018 sales: 47,090
• 2017 sales: N/A
• Starting at: $19,240

The Kona, Hyundai's mass-market subcompact SUV, could be on a roll. The model was introduced in 2018, and this year's first generation not only has been popping up on 2019 "best of" lists, but also has been moving off the lot in a respectable 48.8 days on average last year.

19. Lexus LS

• Average days on lot: 45.8
• 2018 sales: 9,301
• 2017 sales: 4,094
• Starting at: $75,300

Sales for the Lexus LS flagship luxury sedan more than doubled in 2018 over the previous year. Now in its fifth generation, the LS has built a following over almost 30 years of production, with models of this high-end sedan finding new homes in just over 45 days on average. New standard features include upgraded multimedia and safety systems, plus new color choices inside and out.

18. Mercedes-Benz GLC

• Average days on lot: 45.8
• 2018 sales: 69,729
• 2017 sales: 48,643
• Starting at: $40,700

The Mercedes GLC compact luxury crossover is the first generation of this popular model, which was introduced in 2016. Sales in 2018 sales spiked to almost 70,000 from fewer than 50,000 in 2017.

17. Lexus GS

• Average days on lot: 45.5
• 2018 sales: 6,604
• 2017 sales: 7,773
• Starting at: $46,710

The GS, which has been in production since 1993, evolved into its current fourth generation in 2013. Characteristics include a huge trunk and a plethora of standard tech and safety features. Now in its fourth generation, demand continues for the GS, which has been in production since 1993.

16. Chevrolet Traverse

• Average days on lot: 45.1
• 2018 sales: 146,534
• 2017 sales: 123,506
• Starting at: $29,930

The manufacturer may call the Chevrolet Traverse a midsize SUV, but the mass-market vehicle's three rows of seats will accommodate eight people. In the second year of its second generation, the Traverse is one of three American vehicles on the in-demand list for 2019.

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The Toyota Tundra is the highest ranked large light duty pickup in J.D. Powers overall dependability study for 2019. TANNEN MAURY, EPA-EFEFullscreenThe highest ranked compact premium SUV is the BMW X3. BMWFullscreenThe highest ranked compact SUV is the Chevrolet Equinox. David Zalubowski, APFullscreenThe 2019 Audi Q3 is the highest ranked small premiun SUV. AudiFullscreenThe Volkswagen Tiguan is the highest ranked small SUV. Volkswagen FullscreenThe 2019 Ford Expedition is the highest ranked large SUV. FordFullscreenThe Chrysler Town & Country is the highest ranked minivan. A.J. Mueller, ChryslwerFullscreenThe highest ranked midsize premium SUV is the Lexus GX. David Dewhurst Photography, Lexus FullscreenThe highest ranked midsize SUV is the Hyundai Santa Fe. Hyundai FullscreenThe highest ranked midsize pickup is the Nissan Frontier. Nissan, NissanFullscreenThe MINI Cooper is the highest ranked compact sporty car. miniusanews.comFullscreenThis Buick Verano is the highest ranked compact car. BuickFullscreenThe Chevrolet Sonic is a the highest ranked small car. ChevroletFullscreenThe Chevrolet Silverado HD is the highest ranked large heavy duty pickup. TANNEN MAURY, EPA-EFEFullscreenThe Buick LaCrosse is the highest ranked large car. Buick FullscreenThis BMW 5 Series is the highest ranked midsize premium car. BMWFullscreenThe Toyota Camry is the highest ranked midsize car. ToyotaFullscreenThe Lexus ES is the highest ranked compact premium car. David Dewhurst Photography, Lexus FullscreenThe 2020 Kia Soul debuted at the Los Angeles auto show and is the highest ranked compact multi-purpose vehicles. Kia Motors, Kia MotorsFullscreenInterested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:Replay1 of 192 of 193 of 194 of 195 of 196 of 197 of 198 of 199 of 1910 of 1911 of 1912 of 1913 of 1914 of 1915 of 1916 of 1917 of 1918 of 1919 of 19AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide15. Audi Q5

• Average days on lot: 45.0
• 2018 sales: 69,978
• 2017 sales: 57,640
• Starting at: $42,950

Audi's best seller, the Q5 midsize luxury SUV, was introduced in 2009 and is now in its second generation. This is the model's second consecutive year on the list of rapid-selling models. An extensive redesign in 2018 may be behind Q5's increased sales over 2017.

14. BMW X3

• Average days on lot: 44.5
• 2018 sales: 61,351
• 2017 sales: 40,691
• Starting at: $41,000

The BMW X3 luxury compact crossover is one of two models on our list this year from the German manufacturer. Now in its third generation, the 2019 X3 is virtually unchanged from the in-demand 2018 model, which posted a more than 30% boost in sales over 2017.

13. Honda CR-V

• Average days on lot: 44.0
• 2018 sales: 379,013
• 2017 sales: 377,895
• Starting at: $24,350

Now in its fifth generation, the Honda CR-V mass-market compact crossover is making its second consecutive appearance on this list. In production for more than two decades, the CR-V is a perennial top seller across categories, and even had a long reign at the head of the SUV ranks.

12. Lexus NX

• Average days on lot: 43.5
• 2018 sales: 62,079
• 2017 sales: 59,341
• Starting at: $36,485

Introduced in 2014 and still in its first generation, sales of the entry-level Lexus NX compact luxury crossover increased following a refresh in 2018. The NX is the highest ranking of the five Lexus models that made our list this year, with two additional slots going to its parent company, Toyota.

11. Mercedes-Benz GLS

• Average days on lot: 42.9
• 2018 sales: 21,973
• 2017 sales: 32,248
• Starting at: $70,150

The full-size second generation Mercedes GLS, the maker's feature-laden flagship luxury SUV, is one of two Mercedes models to make the list this year. While there are no significant changes from the previous year's model, the units continue to sell quickly.

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The Italdesign Davinci. CYRIL ZINGARO, EPA-EFEFullscreenA Lexus RC F Track Edition. Robert Hradil, Getty ImagesFullscreenA Renault EZ-Ultimo. Robert Hradil, Getty ImagesFullscreenA Skoda Vision iV. Robert Hradil, Getty ImagesFullscreenA Lamborghini Huracan EVO Spyder. Robert Hradil, Getty ImagesFullscreenThe Subaru Viziv. CYRIL ZINGARO, EPA-EFEFullscreenThe new 'Ferrari F8 Tributo' is unveiled during the press day at the '89th Geneva International Motor Show' in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 05, 2019. The 'Geneva International Motor Show' takes place in Switzerland from March 7 until March 17, 2019. Automakers are rolling out new electric and hybrid models at the show as they get ready to meet tougher emissions requirements in Europe - while not forgetting the profitable and popular SUVs and SUV-like crossovers. Cyril Zingaro, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new E'Mobile Twike 5 is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The Motor Show will open its gates to the public from March 7, presenting more than 180 exhibitors and more than 100 world and European premieres. Cyril Zingaro, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Aiways Gumpert Nathalie Racei is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Fornasari 311 GT Gigi is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Twisted Land Rover Defender is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Eadon Green Zanturi is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Engler F.F Superquad is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Sabarro Renner is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe new car Sabarro El-Rickshaw at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 06, 2019. Martial Trezzini, Keystone/APFullscreenThe New Okcu Mercedes Benz V-Class VIP Edition. Cyril Zingaro, Keystone/APFullscreenThe Honda E Concept is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland. Cyril Zingaro, Keystone/EPA-EFEFullscreenThe Subaru Viziv. Cyril Zingaro, Keystone/EPA-EFEFullscreenVolkswagen Cargo e-Bike is displayed during the first press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland. Robert Hradil, Getty ImagesFullscreenBlogThis!