Red Hat Grows by Taking Windows, UNIX Share

Red Hat Defies Expectations Again

Once again, Linux vendor Red Hat has beat expectations and defied the gravity of a down economy.

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) reported its third-quarter fiscal 2010 earning late Tuesday for the quarter ending Nov. 30 with higher-than-expected revenues.

Executives attributed the continued growth of Red Hat to a number of factors, including competitive wins and migrations against both Windows and UNIX.

Red Hat beat analyst estimates and its own earlier guidance for the quarter, reporting revenue of $194 million, which is an 18 percent year-over-year increase, and before-charges earnings amounting to $0.17 per share -- a penny short of non-GAAP earnings a year ago.

Wall Street analysts had projected revenues of $188 million and earnings of $0.16 per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Red Hat itself provided guidance in the $187-$189 million range during the company's second-quart er fiscal 2010 analyst call.

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Net income for the quarter came in at $16.4 million, or $0.08 per share, which is a decline from the $24.3 million Red Hat earned during the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Part of the net income decline came as a result of a legal settlement that Red Hat concluded during the quarter for a five-year-old class action lawsuit.

Moving forward, Red Hat is remaining optimistic about its continued growth prospect and provided revenue guidance of approximately $191 million to $193 million.

"Throughout this economic downturn, we have continued to deliver solid results because our value proposition to customers at present is superior to that our competitors," Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst said during the company's analyst call. "In addition, we continue to execute on our key initiatives and are investing in growth areas that improve our strategic position in the datacenter."