Seagate Technology just handed the AI infrastructure trade a much-needed win, and it came from hard drives, an unlikely corner of the market.
Seagate’s shares had slid roughly 8% into Tuesday’s print as investors had soured on stretched AI valuations across chip and storage names. However, Seagate’s fiscal fourth-quarter results flipped that mood almost overnight.
A Beat That Silences the Doubters
Revenue climbed 48% year over year to $3.63 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimate near $3.5 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $5.71, well above the $5.10 analysts expected.
That gap matters because it shows Seagate isn’t just selling more drives. It’s making far more profit on each one. Non-GAAP gross margin backs that up, jumping to 52.7% from 37.9% a year earlier.
Seagate also banked a record $3.1 billion in free cash flow for the full fiscal year, cash it can use to pay down debt, reward shareholders, or reinvest in its AI storage push.
CEO Dave Mosley credited the results to durable cloud demand.
“Our performance is being driven by robust cloud data center demand and disciplined execution, and we see the momentum continuing in 2027,” Mosley said.
Management’s guidance beat expectations too. Seagate expects $4.1 billion in revenue next quarter, well above analyst estimates near $3.8 billion.
Why It Matters Beyond Storage
The beat lands right as memory chip stocks wobble on fears the AI buildout is overheating. Even SK Hynix and Samsung’s chip deals haven’t stopped that slide. Seagate’s results argue the underlying demand for AI-driven data storage still holds, even as sentiment around the stocks turns shaky.
Seagate’s next quarter, and whether it hits that $4.1 billion target, will show if this confidence sticks.
Bitrue