INDUSTRY

Red Hat has announced financial results for its fiscal year 2010 second quarter ended August 31, 2009.

Total revenue for the quarter was $183.6 million, an increase of 12% from the year ago quarter. Subscription revenue for the quarter was $156.3 million, up 15% year-over-year.

“IT organizations continue to move ahead with purchases of high value solutions, and Red Hat is capitalizing on this demand as a result of our strong customer relationships and proven value proposition. These factors contributed to our better than expected total revenue in the second quarter, and drove annual subscription revenue growth of 15% for both the quarter and first half of fiscal year 2010. We continue to be optimistic about Red Hat’s future and believe the company is well positioned when the economic and IT spending environment improves,” stated Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat. “In addition to solid second quarter results, we also marked a new milestone in Red Hat’s ten year history as a public company by our inclusion in July as a component of the S&P 500.”

GAAP operating income for the quarter was $27.5 million, up 29% from $21.4 million in the year ago quarter. After adjusting for stock compensation and amortization expenses as detailed in the tables below, non-GAAP operating income for the quarter was $43.6 million, up 21% year-over-year. GAAP operating margin was 15.0%. Non-GAAP operating margin was 23.7%, up 170 basis points from the year ago quarter.

GAAP net income for the quarter was $28.9 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, compared with $21.1 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the year ago quarter. Non-GAAP adjusted net income for the quarter was $39.4 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, after adjusting for stock compensation and amortization expenses as detailed in the tables below, as compared to $30.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the year ago quarter. Both GAAP and non-GAAP net income for the quarter include a discrete tax benefit of $7.3 million, adding approximately $0.04 per diluted share. Excluding this tax benefit, GAAP earnings per share would have been $0.11 and non-GAAP earnings per share would have been $0.16.

Operating cash flow totaled $62.0 million compared to $54.3 million from the year ago quarter, up 14% year-over-year. At quarter end, the company’s total deferred revenue balance was $580.9 million, an increase of 17% on a year-over-year basis. Total cash, cash equivalents and investments as of August 31, 2009 were $911.8 million.

“During the second quarter, Red Hat’s financial performance was strong across all of our key metrics. We delivered double digit growth in revenue and deferred revenue, expanded our non-GAAP operating margins and generated strong cash flow from operations,” stated Charlie Peters, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Red Hat. “We are particularly pleased with the growth of the current portion of deferred revenue combined with the lengthening of our average subscription duration."