Red Hat Inc.'s (RHT) fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 37% as the company again posted slightly better-than-expected results on growing revenue and higher margins.

Shares were up 3.1%, to $25.66 in after-hours trading. At the close, the stock was up 88% this year.

The open-software developer's results have held up relatively well in recent quarters, as the bulk of its revenue is recurring and subscription based. Goldman Sachs said earlier this month it expected the upcoming server cycle to be healthy, due to improved information technology spending and pent-up demand.

For the quarter ended Aug. 31, Red Hat reported earnings of $28.9 million, or 15 cents a share, up from $21.1 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. The company repurchased $47 million of common stock in the quarter. Excluding stock compensation and amortization expenses as well as a tax benefit in the latest quarter, earnings rose to 16 cents from 14 cents.

Revenue improved 12%, to $183.6 million, as subscription revenue increased 15%. Nearly half of the company's revenue is from outside the U.S.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of 15 cents on revenue of $179 million.

Gross margin climbed to 84.5% from 83.3%.

Red Hat, which develops and provides open-source software and services, focuses on getting customers to use free software products such as the Linux operating system - a competitor to Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows. In July, Red Hat replaced CIT Group Inc. (CIT) in the S&P 500-stock index.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com