Seagate earnings lift stock as AI storage demand steadies nerves
Seagate topped June-quarter forecasts and rose after hours, giving storage stocks a breather after a rough AI-chip selloff.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
Seagate earnings gave bruised AI and storage investors something to work with Tuesday, as the data-storage company beat Wall Street’s June-quarter forecasts and pointed to continued demand from cloud data centers.
Seagate Technology reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $3.6 billion, up 48% from a year earlier. That was above the $3.5 billion expected by analysts tracked by FactSet.
Adjusted earnings came in at $5.71 a share for the June quarter, also topping the FactSet consensus estimate of $5.10 a share.
In a statement, Seagate Chief Executive Dave Mosley said the company’s results were being driven by strong cloud data-center demand and execution. He also said Seagate sees that momentum carrying into 2027.
Why did Seagate stock rise after earnings?
Seagate shares rose 5.2% in after-hours trading after the report, according to MarketWatch, after closing Tuesday’s regular session down 8.5%.
The rebound came because Seagate’s numbers beat expectations and because management tied demand to artificial intelligence, which is increasing the amount of data companies need to store. Mass-capacity storage refers to systems built to hold very large amounts of data, a key need for cloud operators and AI workloads.
Mosley said Seagate expects “durable long-term demand for mass capacity storage” as AI drives more data creation.
For fiscal 2026 as a whole, Seagate said revenue climbed 34% to $12.2 billion. FactSet-tracked analysts had expected $12 billion. The company also reported record free cash flow of $3.1 billion for the fiscal year.
Other storage stocks got a lift too
Seagate’s report also appeared to steady other names in storage and memory after a rough regular trading session.
Western Digital shares rose 2.5% after hours, according to MarketWatch, after falling 6.9% during regular trading. Sandisk gained 2.8% in extended trading after ending the day down 14.3%.
Micron Technology rose 1.4% after hours following an 8.8% regular-session drop. SK Hynix’s American depositary receipts gained 4% in late trading after falling 8.9% earlier Tuesday.
The moves followed a broader selloff in memory and storage stocks tied to worries over China’s chip-technology progress.
What rattled chip investors?
MarketWatch reported that investors were reacting to developments involving Chinese semiconductor technology. ChangXin Memory Technologies, a Chinese memory-chip maker, saw its stock jump 466% in its Shanghai debut Monday.
The Information also reported Monday that a Chinese state-backed semiconductor-equipment company has begun mass-producing deep-ultraviolet lithography machines for domestic chipmakers, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and Hua Hong.
Deep-ultraviolet lithography machines are used in chip production. Reported progress in that area would matter because it could help Chinese chipmakers rely less on foreign equipment over time.
South Korean memory-chip makers were hit hard Tuesday. SK Hynix shares fell 14%, while Samsung Electronics dropped 13%, according to MarketWatch.
Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs, told MarketWatch in emailed comments that investors were responding to the strategic implications rather than a near-term commercial effect.
Jablonski said China’s reported progress on DUV systems adds to signs that U.S. export controls are speeding up the country’s push for self-sufficiency, but she framed that as a longer-term issue to monitor.
She said investors should separate a longer-term rise in Chinese technological competition from an immediate threat to earnings at leading U.S. semiconductor companies.
This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch.