Seagate Technology PLC

Hedge funds and mutual funds took sharply different approaches to individual AI stocks during the second quarter, according to Goldman Sachs. Hedge funds bought Microsoft and Amazon while mutual funds reduced positions in both, and hedge funds cut exposure to Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, Broadcom, Lam Research, Marvell Technology, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Applied Materials. Mutual funds bought Advanced Micro Devices, Micron Technology and Sandisk while hedge funds reduced exposure to those stocks. Goldman identified 12 AI infrastructure stocks purchased by both groups, including American Electric Power, Bloom Energy, CoreWeave, Flex, NiSource, Seagate Technology, Talen Energy and Xcel Energy. The analysis covers 991 hedge funds with $5.4 trillion of gross equity positions and 504 large-cap active mutual funds with $4.6 trillion in equity assets.

Seagate Technology shares rose nearly 2.4% to $996.5 Monday morning as investors continued hunting for AI infrastructure winners beyond chips. The company delivered a powerful fiscal fourth quarter, generating $3.6 billion in revenue, a 52.7% non-GAAP gross margin and $5.71 in adjusted earnings per share. Operating cash flow reached $1.3 billion and free cash flow hit $1.1 billion, while Seagate reduced debt by $302 million and returned another $283 million through dividends and buybacks. For fiscal 2026, Seagate produced $3.1 billion in free cash flow and retired $1.4 billion of debt. The GF Value chart shows Seagate trading at $996.49 compared with a GF Value of $184.26, putting the stock approximately 440.81% above its estimated fair value.

AI infrastructure stocks edged higher in pre-market trading on Monday after Anthropic's second quarter revenue surged to $11.5B, nearly two-and-a-half times the first quarter's $4.7B figure. The Dario Amodei-led firm also recorded positive adjusted operating income for the first time. Memory and storage companies rose, with Micron Technology up 3%, Seagate Technology up 2.5%, Sandisk up 3.5%, Western Digital up 2.6%, and Nasdaq newcomer SK Hynix up 3%. Networking stocks were mostly higher, with Lumentum Holdings, Ciena, and Corning all up 1.5%, while Applied Optoelectronics and Coherent both increased 1.7%. Chipmakers were modestly higher, with Intel and Nvidia both up about 0.7%, after Nvidia slashed its financial backing for a massive OpenAI data center project in Ohio from $250B to less than $120B. The largest hyperscalers were mixed, with Oracle down 1.1%, Microsoft down 0.7%, Google up 0.2%, and Amazon up 1.4%.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc has seen its shares surge 926% over the past five years as AI-driven demand for data-center storage accelerates. For the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, Seagate's revenues were $3.63 billion, up around 49% year over year, while fiscal year 2026 revenues jumped about 34% to $12.2 billion. Gross margin in the fiscal fourth quarter increased sharply to 52.3% from 37.4% a year earlier, and for the full fiscal year it reached 45.6% from 35.2%. The company generated $3.1 billion in free cash flow and trimmed its debt burden by $1.4 billion to $3.6 billion. Analysts expect earnings per share of $34.99, up 168.7% year over year, and the average short-term price target of $1,141.82 represents a 30% upside from the last closing price of $878.21.

Shares of Entegris, Penguin Solutions, Seagate, Applied Materials, and KLA Corporation soared in afternoon trading after upbeat earnings and bullish forecasts from key AI industry players signaled robust demand for artificial intelligence technology. Super Micro Computer jumped after its earnings per share came in 84% higher than expected and it provided a revenue forecast that topped estimates, while CoreWeave rallied after its sales forecast also exceeded expectations. The positive sentiment spread globally, with Asian markets gaining as traders bought AI- and semiconductor-related shares, supported by a reported 155% year-over-year surge in South Korea's semiconductor exports for early August. Entegris jumped 6.1%, Penguin Solutions rose 4.7%, Seagate climbed 7.2%, Applied Materials gained 5%, and KLA Corporation advanced 4.2%.

Sandisk Corp. surged nearly 14% after unveiling a long-term financial framework that points to sharply higher margins and stronger cash generation. At its Investor Day, the data storage and flash-memory company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high teens rate from fiscal 2028 through fiscal 2030. Sandisk is also targeting adjusted gross margins of about 80% and adjusted operating margins near 75% over that period. The company expects an adjusted free-cash-flow margin of roughly 50% after taxes, capital spending and working-capital needs, and management said it intends to return 100% of excess cash to shareholders after investing in the business. The outlook helped lift other storage and memory names as well, with Western Digital, SK Hynix, Micron and Seagate all gaining.

Seagate Technology shares have surged 445.36% over the past year on hyperscaler demand for mass-capacity storage, and 24/7 Wall St. rates the stock a buy with a price target of $916.25, implying 11.67% upside from the current $820.52. The firm's confidence is anchored in four consecutive quarterly EPS beats, accelerating cloud demand tied to AI infrastructure, and a HAMR technology roadmap now qualified with every major U.S. hyperscaler. Seagate closed fiscal 2026 with fourth-quarter revenue of $3.629 billion, up 48.5% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $5.71, beating consensus by 12.11%, while full-year free cash flow hit a record $3.105 billion, up 279.58%. CEO Dave Mosley said nearline capacity is fully allocated through calendar year 2026, with pricing negotiations already underway for 2027 and 2028, and first-quarter fiscal 2027 guidance calls for revenue of $4.10 billion and EPS of $7.30. Wall Street's average target is $1,115.87 with 22 buy ratings against one sell, and the bull-case scenario gets Seagate to $1,217.52, a 48.38% gain, though the trailing P/E of 58 leaves no margin for error if hyperscaler capex cools.

Sands Capital's Technology Innovators Fund highlighted Seagate Technology as a notable performance contributor in its second-quarter 2026 investor letter. The fund noted that improving supply-demand conditions continue to support stronger pricing expectations for hard disk drives, with Seagate reporting first-quarter revenue up 44 percent year over year and non-GAAP gross margin reaching a record 47 percent. Management now expects pricing to grow at a multiyear mid-teens rate, following 12 percent year-over-year pricing growth in the quarter. The fund believes the combination of rising demand, limited supply response, and improving pricing discipline will support durable earnings growth.

Zacks Investment Research has identified five growth stocks for investors to buy in August, citing strong earnings and revenue growth prospects tied to artificial intelligence and data center demand. The stocks are Micron Technology, Seagate Technology Holdings, Comfort Systems USA, Vertiv Holdings, and Celestica, each carrying a Zacks Rank of 1 and a Growth Score of A. Micron is expected to see revenue and earnings growth of 91.4% and more than 100% for the year ending August 2027, driven by demand for memory chips used in AI systems. Seagate projects revenue and earnings growth of 52.8% and more than 100% for the year ending June 2027, benefiting from AI workloads that require persistent data storage. Comfort Systems guided for 2026 same-store revenue growth in the mid- to high-30% range, with a backlog of $14.06 billion as of June 30, 2026, up 73.2% year over year, fueled by data center construction. Vertiv expects revenue and earnings growth of 36.6% and 58.1% for the current year, supported by AI infrastructure demand and partnerships with NVIDIA. Celestica anticipates revenue and earnings growth of 63.4% and 78.5% for the current year, driven by AI infrastructure spending and expansion of high-bandwidth networking platforms.

Total semiconductor billings surged 134% year-over-year to 151.9 billion dollars in June, according to Wells Fargo analysts citing Semiconductor Industry Association data. Memory chips led the surge, with DRAM billings increasing 373% year-over-year to 56.8 billion dollars and NAND Flash billings up 377% to about 30.7 billion dollars. Excluding memory, semiconductor billings rose 38% year-over-year to 63.5 billion dollars, while analog billings grew 22% to 8.42 billion dollars. The analysts, led by Aaron Rakers, noted that DRAM bits shipped grew 26% year-over-year in June, and NAND bits shipped increased 2%.

A growing number of companies are raising their profit outlooks despite macroeconomic uncertainty. More S&P 500 firms are lifting guidance than cutting it, and Wall Street analysts have raised third-quarter earnings estimates for the index for the second consecutive quarter. Argus research analyst Christine Dooley views consistent guidance raises as a catalyst for market-beating returns. Among the companies that have raised guidance in the second quarter so far are Cheesecake Factory, Ford, General Motors, Hasbro, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Charles Schwab, PayPal, US Bancorp, ASML, Seagate Technology, Supermicro Computer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, United Airlines, and United Parcel Service.

Memory and storage stocks rallied sharply Tuesday, with SanDisk up 8%, Micron Technology up 6%, and SK Hynix up 4%, after Wall Street analysts raised price targets and the companies unveiled a new industry standard for High Bandwidth Flash. SanDisk and SK Hynix jointly released the first HBF standard through the Open Compute Project, a blueprint that could expand the addressable market for AI memory across chip vendors. RBC Capital initiated SK Hynix at Outperform with a $200 target, Stifel rates it Buy with a $240 target, and William Blair started coverage at Outperform, citing tight supply that has roughly tripled AI memory prices. The fundamentals support the bullish tone: SanDisk's datacenter revenue surged 645% year over year to $1.47 billion, while Micron's most recent quarter delivered revenue of $41.46 billion, up 345.7% year over year, with non-GAAP gross margin of 84.9%. The rally also lifted Western Digital by 3%, Seagate Technology by 1%, and the Roundhill Memory ETF by 5%, as Seagate posted record fiscal 2026 free cash flow of $3.1 billion and guided first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue to $4.1 billion.

Seagate Technology's strong fourth-quarter earnings report has boosted shares of rival Western Digital ahead of Western Digital's own earnings announcement on August 5. Seagate reported a 48% year-over-year revenue surge driven by cloud data centers and hyperscalers purchasing high-capacity nearline drives for AI workloads, dispelling concerns about a slowdown in AI infrastructure spending. Western Digital's stock rose 15% between July 28 and July 30, and the company is forecasting fourth-quarter revenue of $3.65 billion, a 36.5% year-over-year gain, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.25. Despite the recent rally, Western Digital shares remain well off their 52-week high of $799.87, and strong free cash flow of nearly $1 billion in the fiscal third quarter supports potential capital returns. However, the primary risk is that much of the optimism may already be priced in, and if results merely meet expectations, profit-taking could follow.

Shares of data-storage company Seagate Technology moved higher following better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Revenue rose 49% year-over-year to $3.63 billion, gross margin expanded to 52.7%, and earnings per share more than doubled to $5.71, exceeding analyst estimates of $5.10. Data-center revenue grew 57% to $2.9 billion, accounting for about 80% of total revenue, driven by robust cloud demand. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Seagate guided revenue between $4 billion and $4.2 billion and earnings per share of $7.10 to $7.50, both above consensus. The company highlighted its Mozaic platform and HAMR technology as key growth drivers, with the next-generation Mozaic 5 expected to launch in late 2027 or early 2028.

Memory stocks rallied sharply, with SanDisk surging 22% and Micron climbing 15%, after Samsung warned of tightening memory supplies that could boost pricing power for manufacturers. Western Digital jumped 18%, Seagate gained 16%, and SK Hynix rose 16%, while the Roundhill Memory ETF advanced 13%, confirming the rally spans the entire memory and storage ecosystem. The gains were also supported by improving sentiment toward semiconductor demand and a broader rebound in large-cap technology stocks, including strong earnings from Microsoft. Analysts caution that memory stocks are among the most cyclical semiconductor investments, and today's sharp rally risks pushing valuations ahead of earnings growth.

SanDisk shares fell 7% to $1,019 and Micron Technology dropped 6% to $775 as a memory-sector selloff intensified on Wednesday. The rout was triggered by SK Hynix's second-quarter report, which delivered a record operating profit up 557% year over year and a record 76% operating margin but missed expectations, and more importantly guided for a 50% increase in 2026 capital expenditure to at least $31 billion, stoking fears of an overheating AI capex cycle. SanDisk has collapsed 36% over five days, while the Roundhill Memory ETF fell 4% to $46 and is down 20% over the same period. Bucking the trend, Seagate Technology gained 2% to $759 after beating fourth-quarter earnings estimates, highlighting a stark divergence between HDD-focused storage names and NAND/DRAM memory names. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is down 19% in July, on pace for its worst month since 2008, with all members below their 50-day moving averages.

Several companies made notable premarket moves following their latest quarterly reports. Biogen rose 0.7% after beating revenue consensus and raising its full-year adjusted EPS guidance. GE HealthCare Technologies surged 12% on second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, topping the FactSet consensus of $1.04, and reaffirmed its 2026 earnings guidance. Ford Motor jumped 6% after beating adjusted earnings expectations and hiking its 2026 earnings outlook, though automotive revenue slightly missed LSEG estimates. Vertiv tumbled 13% as its 17.8% organic revenue growth fell well short of the 23.6% FactSet consensus. Generac gained 5.5% on adjusted earnings of $2.91 per share, beating the $2.01 forecast, and reiterated its revenue growth guidance. Procter & Gamble dropped over 3% after fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $21.2 billion missed the $21.38 billion LSEG estimate, and net income fell to $3.04 billion from $3.62 billion a year ago. Deutsche Bank rose more than 2% after posting a record second-quarter after-tax profit of 1.9 billion euros. CoStar tumbled 15% on a revenue miss and current-quarter guidance of $935 million to $945 million, below the $967.5 million consensus. Rocky Brands surged 16% as adjusted earnings per share more than tripled year-over-year, aided by tariff refunds and strong double-digit growth in several brands. KLA Corp slid 7% after issuing disappointing guidance, while Seagate Technology rose 6% on an outlook that trounced expectations, and Western Digital gained 4% in sympathy. Manhattan Associates climbed 11% after beating estimates and raising full-year forecasts. Visa lost 2% as its 2026 guidance underwhelmed, and it announced plans to cut about 2,600 jobs. Teradyne surged 9% on beats across second-quarter results and third-quarter forecasts. NXP Semiconductors lost 1.7% as its third-quarter adjusted earnings guidance bracketed the LSEG estimate. Skyworks Solutions slumped 9% after adjusted margin of 44.9% narrowly missed the 45.0% expectation.

Several stocks made big moves in after-hours trading following their latest earnings reports. Ford Motor surged 6% after beating second-quarter adjusted earnings expectations and raising its 2026 earnings outlook, though automotive revenue slightly missed LSEG estimates. Teradyne jumped 14% as both second-quarter results and third-quarter guidance topped FactSet forecasts, while Seagate Technology rose 8% on an outlook that trounced LSEG expectations, lifting Western Digital 4% in sympathy. On the downside, KLA Corp slid 9% after issuing disappointing guidance, CoStar tumbled 12% on a revenue miss and weak current-quarter forecast, and Skyworks Solutions slumped 10% as adjusted margin narrowly missed expectations. Visa lost nearly 2% after its 2026 fiscal-year guidance underwhelmed, despite announcing plans to cut about 2,600 jobs, or roughly 7% of its headcount.

Seagate Technology reported quarterly earnings of $5.71 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.10 per share and marking an 11.96% earnings surprise. Revenue for the quarter ended June 2026 reached $3.63 billion, exceeding the consensus estimate by 3.85% and up from $2.44 billion a year earlier. The company has now beaten consensus EPS and revenue estimates in each of the last four quarters. Seagate shares have gained about 196.7% year-to-date, compared with an 8.3% rise in the S&P 500. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 1, indicating a Strong Buy.

Seagate Technology posted adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of $5.71 per share on revenue of $3.6 billion, beating Wall Street estimates and issuing first-quarter guidance well above expectations. The revenue figure represents a 49% year-over-year increase from $2.4 billion, while analysts had forecast earnings of $5.09 per share on $3.5 billion in revenue. For the fiscal first quarter of 2027, the company projects revenue of $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $7.30, plus or minus $0.20, compared to consensus estimates of $3.8 billion and $5.87 respectively. CEO Dave Mosley attributed the strong performance and outlook to accelerating cloud data center demand and the company's Mozaic platform and Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording roadmap. For the full fiscal year 2026, Seagate generated $12.2 billion in revenue and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $15.58, with operating cash flow reaching $3.7 billion and free cash flow of $3.1 billion.

Seagate Technology forecast first-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates, driven by strong demand for its high-capacity hard disk drives amid the rapid buildout of AI infrastructure. The Singapore-based company expects revenue of $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, surpassing analysts' average estimate of $3.75 billion, and adjusted profit of $7.30 per share, plus or minus 20 cents, compared with estimates of $5.80 per share. Shares rose over 8% in extended trading, adding to gains that have more than doubled this year. CEO Dave Mosley said durable long-term demand for mass capacity storage is expected as AI accelerates data generation. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 48.5% to $3.63 billion, beating estimates of $3.49 billion, while adjusted profit came in at $5.71 per share, above the $5.09 estimate.

Seagate Technology reported fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2026 results, with annual revenue rising 34% to $12.2 billion and record free cash flow of $3.1 billion. For the fourth quarter, revenue reached $3.6 billion, GAAP diluted earnings per share were $5.58, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $5.71. The company retired $1.4 billion in debt during the fiscal year and returned $810 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Seagate also provided guidance for the fiscal first quarter of 2027, forecasting revenue of $4.1 billion plus or minus $100 million and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $7.30 plus or minus $0.20.

StockStory identifies Broadcom and Seagate as semiconductor stocks with impressive fundamentals while flagging Himax Technologies as one facing challenges. Broadcom, with a market cap of $1.89 trillion, has seen 33.1% annual revenue growth over the last two years and boasts a best-in-class gross margin of 76.6%. Seagate, valued at $205.5 billion, posted 32.6% annual revenue growth over the same period and is projected to accelerate to 42.9% revenue growth in the next 12 months. In contrast, Himax, a $2.38 billion display driver chip maker, has experienced a 4.2% annual revenue decline over five years and a 22% annual drop in earnings per share, compounded by a high net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 8×.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the S&P 500 up 0.64%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.47%, and the Nasdaq 100 up 1.58%, as a rebound in chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks gathered pace. The iShares Semiconductor ETF gained more than 4%, with Teradyne and Western Digital up more than 11%, and Micron Technology and Seagate Technology up more than 9%. The rally comes ahead of megacap technology earnings this week, starting with Alphabet and Tesla on Wednesday, while Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts suggest second-quarter earnings may increase by 23%, with AI infrastructure stocks contributing nearly 60% of the S&P 500's earnings-per-share growth. Software stocks fell after Morgan Stanley downgraded Adobe, Intuit, and Workday, and rising crude oil prices pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to a two-month high of 4.64%. WTI crude oil rose more than 2% to a five-week high as the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes for a tenth consecutive day, and Houthi rebels threatened a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia.

Zacks Equity Research featured new analyst reports on 16 major stocks, including Johnson & Johnson, Lam Research, Seagate Technology Holdings, and micro-cap companies KVH Industries and Dawson Geophysical. Johnson & Johnson beat Q2 estimates and sees higher second-half sales growth in both its Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments, though the Stelara patent cliff and Abiomed weakness remain headwinds. Lam Research posted record Q3 results and raised its calendar 2026 wafer fab equipment outlook, driven by AI-led demand for deposition and etch tools. Seagate raised its long-term outlook to at least 20% annual revenue growth, with Mozaic shipments reaching 75% of top cloud customers and full qualification expected this quarter. KVH Industries is transitioning to a recurring maritime connectivity platform with growing LEO adoption, while Dawson Geophysical is benefiting from stronger activity levels and an upgraded seismic equipment fleet.

Zacks Investment Research highlights four memory stocks with strong buy ratings poised to benefit from expanding global AI infrastructure. The picks are Micron Technology, Sandisk Corporation, Seagate Technology Holdings, and Western Digital Corporation, each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 and a Growth Score of A or B. Micron Technology saw revenues soar 345.7% year over year to $41.46 billion, with fiscal 2026 earnings expected to jump roughly 791%. Sandisk raised its 2026 datacenter exabyte growth view to the mid-70% range, and its fiscal 2026 EPS consensus implies a 2,125% increase. Seagate Technology is advancing its HAMR-based Mozaic platform for high-capacity drives, with fiscal 2026 revenue and EPS seen rising about 32% and 84%, respectively. Western Digital is strengthening its AI storage leadership through high-capacity HDDs and enterprise SSDs, with fiscal 2026 EPS projected to grow approximately 104%.