Let’s Lift the Red Hat and Look Inside

“Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) keeps more money under its jaunty fedora
than you’d think.

“I’m not talking about the Linux veteran’s cash balance, though
that is certainly robust at $968 million with about $60 million of
operating cash flow per quarter. No, the sneaky sales strength of
Red Hat comes from a habit of landing long-term contracts with only
small payments due at signing. In the just-reported first quarter
of fiscal 2011, Red Hat sealed the largest deal in the company’s
history, but only 5% of the “eight-figure deal” fell to the top
line right away and most of the balance remains an undisclosed sum
waiting to hit the financial statements in coming quarters.”

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