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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (73502)	8/12/1999 9:00:00 PM
From: Mark Fowler	Respond to of 164684

Yes, yes i do Michelle i think it just might outperform i'll keep my fingers crossed this time i sold it at once on that head fake and bought it back yesterday...

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (73502)	8/12/1999 9:13:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Red Hat shares soar into "nosebleed territory" By Therese Poletti SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Shares of Red Hat Inc., <RHAT.O>surged 40 percent to levels analysts called "nosebleed territory" Thursday, giving the distributor of the Linux operating system a market capitalization of nearly $5 billion a day after its debut. Red Hat had already seen the price of its freshly issued shares more than triple Wednesday to close at $52.0625, after raising its IPO target price range and selling six million shares at $14 a share. On Thursday, shares of the Durham, N.C.-based firm rose to $72.625, giving the fast growing but money losing company a market capitalization of about $4.8 billion based on 66.6 million common shares outstanding. That total does not include shares reserved for employee stock options. "These levels are nosebleed territory and the stock does not belong at these levels," said David Menlow of the IPO Financial Network in Millburn, N.J. "It's totally unsustainable." Analysts said Red Hat's IPO was so well received -- especially during a major downturn in the Internet IPO market -- because it is the leader in the emerging market of Linux software. Linux is a version of the UNIX operating system created by Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds. It now competes with Microsoft Corp.'s <MSFT.O> Windows NT in some areas such as running Web servers and e-mail servers. Red Hat received a tremendous amount of publicity as the first company in the quirky Linux community to go public. Its IPO was held during a major trade show for Linux in Silicon Valley this week. "It is an early mover in what is obviously a hot area," said Paul Bard, an analyst with Renassiance Capital Corp. in Greenwich, Conn. "I think what investors are betting on is the growth of the market for the Linux operating system. Lots of people think this could be really big." Indeed, Linux was the fastest growing operating system in the network server market, according to International Data Corp., which said that Linux grew faster than Windows NT. But Linux is still mostly used by hobbyists on the desktop and most analysts do not expect to see Linux overtaking Microsoft's dominant Windows among average PC users. Still, are a growing number of software products, such as KDE from MandrakeSoft, give Linux an easier-to-use interface. "The risk factors in the prospectus accurately outline the concerns we have for the company," Menlow said. One of the risk factors in the company's prospectus is that Red Hat is the largest distributor of software that is already given away over the Internet. Red Hat also gives away Linux at its Web site. It sells the shrink-wrapped versions of Red Hat Linux in computer stores for about $50 and plans to make most of its money by software and services for Linux. Its revenues soared 109 percent in the fiscal year ended February 1999 to $10.8 million, and the company showed a loss of $130,000. Red Hat expects to incur substantial losses in the future, as it increases sales, marketing and research. Competition is another risk. Because Linux is not owned by any one company, many new companies provide services and support for the software. Torvalds, who wrote the Linux kernel, the core of the operating system, still manages its upgrades and development by a group of far-flung programmers. Another potential risk factor for all companies developing around Linux is the software's reliance upon Torvalds and a small group of engineers for major upgrades. "Our reliance on the support of Linus Torvalds and other prominent Linux developers could impair our ability to release major product upgrades and maintain market share," the company said in its prospectus. Analysts said many investors may be bidding up the stock based on Linux's potential to compete with Microsoft, and therefore they are hoping for the same profit potential. "It's a completely different business model (from o...