Seagate Posts Stronger-Than-Expected Earnings Beat

By Chris Lange Updated Apr 28, 4:29AM EDT · Published Jul 31, 8:38AM EDT

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Seagate Technology Public Limited Co. (NASDAQ: STX) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results Friday before the markets opened. The company had $0.77 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.93 billion in revenue versus Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.64 in EPS on $2.92 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $1.10 in EPS on $3.30 billion in revenue.

During the fourth quarter, the Company generated $228 million in operating cash flow and returned $351 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share redemptions.

The board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.54 per share, which will be payable on August 25 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 11.

Steve Luczo, Seagate’s Chairman and CEO, commented on earnings:

Over the last few years, Seagate has refined our financial model and global supply chain to allow us to continuously deliver significant value to shareholders and adapt effectively to short-term fluctuations in our business and geographic markets. While shifting information technology market dynamics have been challenging to accurately predict, we achieved many of our financial goals in fiscal 2015 and remain confident in our long-term growth prospects driven by data growth, cloud and hyperscale deployments and data analytics. Our product portfolio is very well positioned in the traditional storage marketplace, our pipeline of innovation is strong, and our strategic investments in cloud systems and solutions and flash technology are expanding our opportunities with new and existing customers.

Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments totaled approximately $2.48 billion at the end of the fiscal year compared to $2.63 billion at the end of fiscal 2014.

Shares of Seagate closed Thursday up 3.8% at $51.29 on a 52-week trading range of $44.46 to $69.40. In early trading indications Friday, shares were up 0.9% at $51.75. The company’s stock has a consensus analyst price target of $55.61.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.