- Along with its FQ4 beat, Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) has announced a $500M buyback. It replaces a $300M buyback that had $80M remaining, and is good for repurchasing 3.7% of shares at current levels. $535M was spent on buybacks in FY15 (ended Feb. '15).
- Red Hat's backlog (total non-cancellable subscription/service contracts) totaled $1.86B at the end of FQ4, up 19% Y/Y. The company's deferred revenue balance was up 15% to $1.48B, and its billings proxy (revenue + change in deferred revenue) was up 19% for the whole of FY15 to $2.07B. Likewise, the rolling average quarterly billings proxy rose 19% to $518M.
- Forex had a 600 bps impact on FQ4 revenue growth. Subscription revenue +15% to $405.1M; training/service revenue +20% to $58.9M.
- Operating expenses (non-GAAP) +17% to $289.4M (compares with 16% revenue growth). On a GAAP basis, sales/marketing spend totaled 41% of revenue, R&D 20%, and G&A 9%.
- Red Hat is up to $71.27 AH; the 52-week high is $71.77. CC at 5PM ET (webcast), guidance should be provided.
- FQ4 results, PR