Image source: Red Hat.
Open-source software veteran Red Hat (RHT) just reported results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year of 2013. Reacting to the news, Red Hat shares rose 2.6% in after-hours trading.
Red Hat delivered adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $0.39 per share on an even $400 million in revenue. Sales rose 15% year over year, and earnings increased by 8%. Both numbers were slightly ahead of analyst targets.
Deferred revenue balances soared 18% higher, year over year. This reflects an increasing amount of long-term contract sales, where much of the revenues are recognized on an amortized multi-year schedule.
"Continued strong demand for Red Hat's technology portfolio drove strong growth in our core platform and application development technologies during the fourth quarter," said Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst in a prepared statement.
He also underscored that Red Hat's billings proxy jumped 24% year over year, providing visibility into strong revenue in upcoming quarters. The backlog of paid orders to be filled in the next 12 months exceeded $190 million at the end of 2013, up from $180 million in the year-ago period.
"We delivered consistent mid-teen revenue growth during every quarter in fiscal year 2014, and we continued to invest in new technologies and commercial capabilities that further expand our future growth opportunities in open hybrid cloud computing," said Red Hat CFO Charlie Peters. "Red Hat continues to deliver a compelling combination of revenue growth, profitability, and cash flow."
