NEW YORK (AP) — Oracle Corp. on Wednesday reported flat earnings for its fiscal third quarter, hurt by a continued drop in sales of hardware systems and a surprise decline in sales of new software — which the company attributed to a lackluster performance by its expanding sales force rather than lack of demand.

“While our overall business remains healthy and we saw excellent pipeline growth we’re not pleased with our revenue growth this quarter,” said Safra A. Catz, president and chief financial officer, in a conference call with analysts.