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Red Hat nears highs not seen since 2015
Shares of Red Hat (RHT) climbed more than 6 percent at one point on Tuesday, following a strong earnings report Monday for the quarter ended Feb. 28, which was the fourth quarter of its 2017 fiscal year.
Here's how the company did during the quarter vs expectations (based on consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters):
EPS: $0.61 (non-GAAP) vs $0.61 expected
Revenue: $629 million vs $619 million expected
The stock closed Tuesday up around 5 percent, on pace for its best day since March 2015, when shares gained more than 10 percent after an upbeat earnings report. Red Hat also surpassed its 30-day average trading volume of 1.83 million shares on Tuesday — with more than 1.89 million shares changing hands before noon.
Red Hat, whose main business is selling support and other subscription services atop the open source Linux operating system, also said Monday it expects to have strong earnings for the upcoming fiscal year, falling within a range of $2.60 to $2.64 per share (non-GAAP), compared to a $2.59 Reuters estimate.
The company's subscription revenue, which accounted for 89 percent of total revenue for the quarter, was at $560 million, or up 17 percent from one year ago Red Hat said. It crossed $2 billion in annual subscription revenue for the first time this fiscal year.
Red Hat also announced Monday it closed its first-ever deal of approximately $100 million in the fourth quarter, which should drive profit margins in future quarters.
As of Monday's close, shares of Red Hat were up more than 17 percent for the year and up more than 12 percent over the past 12 months.
Shares closed at $82.20 Monday and were trading above $86 per share after hours, on the heels of the company's upbeat fourth-quarter earnings report.
Red Hat year-to-date performance
Source: FactSet
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