By the closing bell Friday, shares of Red Hat skyrocketed 25%, or $4.50, to $22.46, a day after the Raleigh-based company posted better-than-expected earnings.

Since Sept. 22, shares of Red Hat had traded down 15%, in part due to Oracle's late-October entrance into the market for Linux, a free operating system that rivals Microsoft 's Windows. While the system itself can be downloaded for free, companies such as Red Hat can make money by distributing it on disks and offering support.

The spike in investment on Friday appeared to indicate that Ellison - ranked number 15 on Forbes's list of the world's richest people - has not vanquished the industry leader for Linux.

On Thursday, after the stock market closed, Red Hat said its third quarter revenues jumped 45%, to $105.8 million from $73.1 million during the like quarter last year.

The company also posted earnings per diluted share of 14 cents, after adjusting for stock compensation and tax expense, which was better than Wall Street expected. Excluding that adjustment, net income for the quarter was $14.6 million, or 8 cents per share, down 37% from $23.2 million, or 13 cents per share.

While it's too early to say what will happen in the battle for the Linux market, some analysts were found hope for Red Hat in the results.