Talk about a market disconnect: Most technology company stocks are climbing today, but Red Hat (RHT) shares are falling. Hmmm… has something gone wrong at the Linux and open source leader? Not exactly. But Wall Street insiders seem to be a little concerned about Red Hat’s latest quarterly results. Should partners worry, too? Here’s some insight from The VAR Guy.

First up, the facts and stats. Red Hat posted Q3 revenue of $290 million, up 23 percent from the corresponding quarter last year. Net income for the quarter was $38.2 million, up from $26.0 million in Q3 last year. Generally speaking, Red Hat’s results met or exceeded most analyst expectations. But the company’s stock is down nearly nine percent today. Why? Apparently Red Hat’s results beat expectations… but not by a wide enough margin.

For Red Hat’s channel partners there’s no cause for panic. The company remains on track to become the world’s first $1 billion open source company this fiscal year. In addition to Red Hat’s Linux focus, the company has successfully diversified its channel into open source middleware (Jboss), and more recent pushes involve Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and open source storage. More recently, Red Hat has been supporting areas like supporting the OVA and the oVirt initiatives.

Red Hat’s release says Q3 successes were fueled by a continuing growth in demand for the Red Hat Linux in the enterprise, along with the acquisition of Gluster, which has put Red Hat squarely into the storage arena. For 2012 and beyond, Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst said that the company will focus on “…expand[ing] our storage solutions in cloud computing and big data storage [because Red Hat] is well positioned to deliver disruptive solutions in the large and growing storage market.”

If you want the full deep dive into Red Hat’s financial figures, check them out here.

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