Red Hat to Restate 3 Years of Earnings

Red Hat Inc., the world’s biggest distributor of the free Linux computer operating system, will restate three years of sales and profit to correct accounting for subscription revenue. Its shares fell 23%, their biggest one-day drop.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is questioning Red Hat, which is fixing the bookkeeping at the behest of its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat said.

The announcement counters Chief Executive Matthew Szulik’s comments in an interview last month that a restatement or SEC probe “was not happening.”

Red Hat shares fell $4.62 to $15.73 on Nasdaq.