Thursday evening, open-source software expert Red Hat
What analysts say:
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Buy, sell, or waffle? Twenty-two analysts follow Red Hat today. Nine of them are buying, two are selling, and the other 11 are holding on to their hats. In our Motley Fool CAPS investor community, it's a two-star stock, based on 375 player ratings.
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Revenue. Wall Street expects about $112.5 million of revenue, up 43% from the year-ago $78.7 million haul. Official guidance says $112 million to $113 million.
- Earnings. The analysts expect about $0.15 per share, a bit higher than the $0.13 per share seen last year. These are non-GAAP numbers, and match up to a guidance range of $0.14 to $0.15 per share. In GAAP parlance, we'll be looking at earnings of about $0.07 to $0.08 per share.
What management says:
You might think that Red Hat would see substantial business risks in the new competition from Oracle
What management does:
Operating and net margins have taken a hit as the costs of Red Hat's Jboss acquisition work their way into these trailing figures.
|
8/2005 |
11/2005 |
2/2006 |
5/2006 |
8/2006 |
11/2006 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gross |
80.6% |
81.6% |
82.6% |
83.8% |
84.2% |
84.2% |
|
Operating |
15.8% |
19.3% |
20.9% |
23.1% |
22.1% |
20.7% |
|
Net |
22.1% |
25% |
28.6% |
26.9% |
22.4% |
18.1% |
|
FCF/Revenue |
54.4% |
58.5% |
61% |
61.3% |
54.5% |
50.8% |
|
Y-O-Y Growth |
8/2005 |
11/2005 |
2/2006 |
5/2006 |
8/2006 |
11/2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
48.9% |
46.2% |
41.7% |
39.9% |
42.8% |
43.2% |
|
Earnings |
63.1% |
67.3% |
75.4% |
72.6% |
45.3% |
3.9% |
One Fool says:
Linux is coming into its own as an enterprise platform, after years in corporate IT managers' collective doghouse. The mere fact that behemoths like Oracle and Microsoft are openly acknowledging Linux as a legitimate competitor lends heft to market leaders Red Hat and Novell. IBM
A lack of Oracle swagger about Linux wins suggests good news for Red Hat, so I'd be surprised to see the company falling short of its own guidance this time. But the proof is in the pudding hat. Tune in for the full story on Friday.
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Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here, and prefers community-supported Linux flavors like Ubuntu or Debian. You can check out Anders' holdings if you like, and Foolish disclosure is what it is because of what we all are.
