Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Friday. The company said it had $0.22 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.6 billion in revenue. That compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.37 in EPS on revenue of $2.60 billion. In the same period of last year, it posted EPS of $1.08 and $3.33 billion in revenue.
During the quarter, the board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.63 per share, which will be payable on May 24, to shareholders of record on May 10.
On the books, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $1.2 billion at the end of the quarter, compared to $2.49 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.
Steve Luczo, chairman and CEO of Seagate, commented:
Our quarterly results fell short of our expectations as a result of several near-term demand factors. Despite these challenges, we believe we have the product portfolio, technology roadmap and operational leverage to ensure we are well-positioned for long-term success. Accordingly, we are aggressively working to position Seagate to respond to new demand levels and are committed to ongoing financial discipline.
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Luczo continued:
Although the short-term dynamics of our industry are challenging, we continue to see significant and growing Exabyte demand, particularly as enterprise applications shift to cloud environments. As we look forward, our strategic focus is unchanged — we are broadening our storage portfolio to meet the needs of our growing global customer base, building upon our strong competitive position and optimizing our business for continued financial performance. These focus areas will enable us to build lasting value for shareholders.
Shares of Seagate closed Thursday down 1.6% to $26.90, with a consensus analyst price target of $32.40 and a 52-week trading range of $25.01 to $60.09. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was initially up 1.2% at $27.21 in early trading indications Friday.
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