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Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) shares are trading higher Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected first quarter earnings per share and revenue. What To Know: Seagate reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.61, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37. In addition, the company reported sales of $2.62 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Revenue for the quarter rose 21% year-over-year to $2.63 billion. GAAP gross margin was 39.4% and non-GAAP gross margin was 40.1%, both at record levels. The company generated $532 million in cash flow from operations and $427 million in free cash flow. Seagate returned $182 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and increased its quarterly cash dividend by approximately 3% to 74 cents per share. CEO Dave Mosley said the company saw robust customer demand for its high-capacity storage products and noted that AI-driven applications are increasing demand for data storage. Q2 Outlook: The company sees adjusted earnings per share from $2.55 to $2.95, versus the consensus estimate of $2.62. Furthermore, it sees sales from $2.60 billion to $2.80 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $2.65 billion. Analyst Changes: Following the earnings report, multiple analysts issued price target adjustments. UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri maintained a Neutral rating on Seagate and lowered the price target from $235 to $230. Benchmark analyst Mark Miller maintained a Buy rating on Seagate and raised the price target from $250 to $255. Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Seagate and raised the price target from $240 to $250. Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini maintained a Negative rating on Seagate and raised the price target from $80 to $150. Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley maintained a Equal-Weight rating on Seagate and raised the price target from $200 to $240. Rosenblatt analyst Kevin Cassidy maintained a Buy rating on Seagate and raised the price target from $250 to $270. STX Price Action: Seagate shares closed Wednesday trading 19.11% higher at $265.62, according to data from Benzinga Pro. See Also: • Why Is Fortive Stock Trading Higher Today? This illustration was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
