Why Seagate Had Tuesday’s Worst Earnings Report

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) released its most recent quarterly earnings report before the markets opened. Out of all the companies that reported Tuesday morning, Seagate was by far the worst performer. This was only compounded by changes to the executive management team.

The company said that it had $0.65 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.41 billion in revenue. There were consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.99 in EPS and $2.57 billion in revenue. The fiscal fourth-quarter from last year had $0.69 in EPS and $2.65 billion in revenue.

Steve Luczo, Seagate’s board chair and chief executive, commented:

The results of our performance this fiscal year reflect improved year-over-year profitability of our storage product portfolio and business operations. Although the near-term dynamics of technology shifts present demand variations for the storage industry from time to time, we continue to see growing storage demand in the long-run driven by the proliferation of data growth from new technologies, emerging industries, and growing businesses. We believe we have the vision, products, technology and experience to ensure our long-term success and shareholder value.

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Separately, the board of directors announced that it has unanimously voted to appoint Dave Mosley, Seagate’s president and chief operating officer, as CEO effective at the beginning of October. Mosely also was appointed to the board of directors effective in July 25.

Current CEO Luczo will transition to the role of executive chairman on October 1.

It’s worth pointing out that under Luczo’s leadership as CEO, from January 2009 through the end of Seagate’s fiscal 2017, Seagate’s overall total shareholder return is in the top 15 companies in the S&P 500 Index.

However, excluding Tuesday’s move, Seagate was only up about 7% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks the stock is up 26%.

Shares of Seagate were last seen down almost 15% at $33.84 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $45.58 and a consensus analyst price target of $30.09 to $50.96.

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