Red Hat's Profit Rises

SAN FRANCISCO - Red Hat(RHT Quote - Cramer on RHT - Stock Picks) delivered a healthy first-quarter report Wednesday.

The open source software company reported revenue of $156.6 million, up 32% from $118.9 million for the same quarter of last year. Analysts were expecting $153 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Net income at the Raleigh, N.C. developer rose 7% to $17.3 million, or 8 cents a share, from $16.2 million, or 8 cents a share, in the same period of last year.

Excluding items, EPS was 18 cents, in line with analysts' estimates.

Shares were up 50 cents, or 2.2%, to $22.80 in extended trading. Shares had gained 3.8% during the regular session.

The company's Linux operating system software competes with products from Novell(NOVL Quote - Cramer on NOVL - Stock Picks) and Microsoft(MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks), among others.