Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) reported its fiscal second-quarter financials before the markets opened Monday. It posted earnings of $1.35 per share on $3.7 billion in revenue, against Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $1.35 in earnings per share on $3.74 billion in revenue. In the same period of the previous year, the data storage maker posted $1.32 in earnings per share and $3.53 billion in revenue.
Source: Thinkstock
During the second quarter, the company had a gross margin of 28.2%, resulting in a net income of $452 million. Seagate generated roughly $1.4 billion in operating cash flow, paid cash dividends of $177 million and repurchased 0.3 million ordinary shares of $18 million.
The board also announced that a quarterly dividend of $0.54 will be payable February 24.
Analysts weighed in on Seagate over the course of January, leading up to earnings. Brean Capital has a Buy rating for the stock and a price target of $83. RBC Capital has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $72 from $69. Pacific Crest had an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $73.
In the first half of Monday’s trading session, shares of Seagate were down 10% at $57.50. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $67.60 and a 52-week trading range of $48.21 to $69.40.
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You can’t really mention Seagate without mentioning its rival, Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC), which will report its second-quarter earnings Tuesday after the markets close. There are consensus estimates of $2.10 in earnings per share and $3.84 billion in revenue. The same period in the previous year had $2.19 in earnings per share and $3.97 billion in revenues.
In December, both Seagate and Western Digital were rated by Deutsche Bank as two of the top picks for 2015.
Western Digital’s market share in the total addressable hard disk drive market remains at a very impressive 45%. The company posted solid quarterly numbers, where revenue and earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations. Western Digital attributed much of the gain to the consumer electronics/gaming unit, which saw the biggest upside in its fiscal fourth quarter, shipping 10.9 million units, which was up 67% year-over-year.
Brean Capital had a Buy rating for Western Digital and set its price target at $150. RBC Capital had an Outperform rating. Citigroup had a Buy rating and raised its price target to $125 from $110.
Shares of Western Digital were down 8% at $97.40. The consensus price target is $118.24, and the 52-week trading range is $80.78 to $114.69.
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