Posted by : Anonymous on Dec 13, 2004 - 12:46 PM Linux

NEW YORK - Shares of software company Red Hat Inc. rose Tuesday after Prudential Equity Group upgraded the shares to "overweight" from "neutral," citing the company's leadership in the Linux software market and its discounted share price. Shares of Red Hat closed at $14.48 (euro10.89), up $1.06 (euro0.80) , or 7.9 percent, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The 52-week low of $11.21 (euro8.43) was set Nov. 10. The year-high of $29.06 (euro21.86) was set June 2.
Prudential analyst Brent Thill said Red Hat "remains the leader in the Linux market, which is among the fastest growing segments of the enterprise software market."

Additionally, he said, "we are still in the early innings of adoption by major corporations."

Linux is an operating system that was designed to provide personal computer users a free or very low-cost operating system.

Thill said Red Hat recently posted seven times the subscriber count of its closest competitor and still retains the highest caliber references in the industry.

He noted a household financial services firm is rolling out 50 to 60 new Linux projects on Red Hat per month.

"The current share price sufficiently discounts the concerns that have kept us on the sidelines over the past six months," including declines in average selling price, management changes, and shifts in the competitive landscape, Thill said.

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