Red Hat flirts with $1bn revenue

Red Hat is on track to finish its fiscal year as the first open source software company to reach $1 billion in annual revenue, reports ZDnet.

Forbes reveals that Red Hat reported a surge in second-quarter earnings. Profits rose to $40 million, or $0.20 per share, from $23.7 million, or $0.12 per share, in last year's second quarter. Revenue rose 28%, to $281.3 million. Adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share beat analyst expectations.

"Based on the strong first-half results, we believe Red Hat remains well positioned to finish fiscal 2012 as the first billion-dollar open source software vendor," says Jim Whitehurst, president and CEO of Red Hat, according to The Escapist.

Whitehurst credited the explosion of cloud computing as driving demand for his firm's enterprise Linux offerings, reveals The Street.

"Clouds run Linux - it's a reality," he says and points to open source cloud deployments at Google and Amazon, which have set the tone for other companies. "Our products, I think, are seen as clear, long-term winners in the next generation of computing."

He adds that Red Hat's annuity-based subscription model ensures a solid revenue stream, even in an uncertain economic climate.