Red Hat shrugs off Microsoft and Oracle competition, analysts say

Analysts expect Red Hat's launch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5) to solidify its position as the leader in commercial open source software. Red Hat appears unaffected by competitive pressure from Microsoft and Oracle, say analysts from WS Hambrecht and Co.

“We continue to believe the release of RHEL5 should solidify Red Hat's position at the forefront of the Open Source movement,” commented Hambrecht analysts, Robert Stimson and Jason Ko in a note to investors this morning.

Red Hat's strong reputation will encourage cautious corporate customers to finally adopt Linux virtualization technology, they believe. “The newly-launched Red Hat Network Satellite, an enterprise-class virtualization management solution, will be well received by customers that are anxious to utilize the cost-savings of virtualization technology, but may have been waiting for a reliable OS vendor”.

According to consensus amongst financial analysts, Red Hat is expected to report revenue of approximately $112.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2006, in a financial filing scheduled for March 29.

Read more at WR Hambrecht and Co.

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