Shares in Red Hat fell 12 percent on Tuesday after the Linux software developer forecast sales for the next quarter that failed to meet analysts’ expectations Monday afternoon.
Red Hat (Nasdaq: RHAT) reported profits of $46.3 million, or 6 cents a share, on Monday. Analysts had expected slightly higher revenues and 5 cents a share.
Shares dipped to $13.23 on Tuesday.
Red Hat CEO matthew Szulik went on Fox News on Tuesday afternoon to defend the company’s sales growth and performance “across all metrics”.
The stock was downgraded Tuesday by UBS to “neutral” from “buy”. UBS cited Red Hat’s enterprise revenues of $33.9 million, which the Wall Street firm had projected would be $36.9 million.
JMP Securities reiterated its “outperform” rating, according to CBS Marketwatch.
Charlie Peters, the firm’s new chief financial officer, forecast revenues of $50-52 million for the firm’s fiscal third quarter. Analysts expected $54.1 million.
After Peters and Matthew Szulik, Red Hat’s chief executive officer, completed a conference call about the earnings report, Red Hat shares fell 26 cents to $14.84.
For the second quarter, Red Hat reported revenues of $46.3 million, up 60 percent from the same period a year ago and an 11 percent jump from the previous quarter.
Red Hat said sales of Enterprise Linux climbed to 144,000.
“We continue to see strong demand for our offerings, as reflected in our results,” Peters said in a statement. “The company executed successfully across the global business.”
Red Hat’s annual shareholders meeting is today and will be webcast beginning at 11 AM.
The company’s workforce has also grown by 10 percent.
Red Hat: www.redhat.com
