Red Hat keeps raking in accolades.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine puts the Raleigh software company at No. 22 on its list of the 50 best-performing companies. The list is based on the five-year return of stocks in the S&P 500.
Red Hat investors saw a return of 168.3 percent. Put another way, $10,000 invested in Red Hat in March 2005 was worth $26,828.60 five years later.
Red Hat sells and supports open-source computer operating software, which is increasingly seen by corporations, government agencies and other customers as a cheaper alternative to rivals such as Microsoft Windows.
The company reported revenue of $748.2 million for its 2010 fiscal year, and CEO Jim Whitehurst has said he's aiming to hit $1 billion in 2012.
In April, Forbes ranked Red Hat No. 19 on its annual Fast Tech 25 list.
Naturally, past results aren't an indicator of future performance, but Red Hat shareholders can't be faulted for having a rosy outlook.
Read the full Bloomberg BusinessWeek report here.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or