Seagate Revenue and Profit Beat Market Expectations, Shares Surge 6.6% After Hours, Storage Stocks Rebound

Seagate Technology (STX-US) reported another strong financial quarter, highlighting continued robust demand for data storage products, driving its stock up 6.6% in after-hours trading on Tuesday (28th). Peers in the storage sector followed suit with gains.

Key Financials vs. Analyst Expectations

Q4

Revenue: $3.6 billion vs. $3.5 billion

EPS: $5.71 vs. $5.10

F2026 Full Year

Revenue: $12.2 billion vs. $12.0 billion

Seagate's revenue for the last quarter rose 48% year-over-year to $3.6 billion, with adjusted EPS at $5.71, surpassing analyst estimates of $3.5 billion and $5.10.

CEO Dave Mosley said, "Our performance was driven by strong demand from cloud data centers and disciplined execution. We expect this growth momentum to continue into the fiscal year 2027."

Mosley also noted that artificial intelligence (AI) continues to drive data generation, expecting "demand for high-capacity storage to grow over the long term."

Looking back at the full fiscal year 2026, the data storage giant's revenue increased 34% year-over-year to $12.2 billion, with free cash flow reaching a record high of $3.1 billion.

Seagate's stock plunged 8.5% during regular trading on Tuesday but rebounded 5.2% after hours.

Following Seagate's earnings release, peer stocks also rose in after-hours trading. Western Digital (WDC-US) gained 2.5% after closing down 6.9%, SanDisk (SNDK-US) rose 2.8% after an earlier 14.3% drop, Micron (MU-US) climbed 1.4% after closing down 8.8%, and SK Hynix ADR (SKHY-US) rebounded 4% after falling 8.9% at close.

Memory and storage stocks broadly weakened on Tuesday. Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) surged 466% on its first trading day in Shanghai on Monday. Additionally, The Information reported the same day that a Chinese state-backed semiconductor equipment company has begun mass-producing deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography tools, supplying domestic foundries such as SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor.

This news triggered concerns among semiconductor investors from Asia to the U.S. South Korea's SK Hynix plunged 14% on Tuesday, and Samsung Electronics fell 13%.

Sylvia Jablonski, Chief Investment Officer at Defiance ETFs, said the market is reflecting "strategic implications rather than short-term business impact." China's progress in DUV equipment again shows that U.S. export controls are accelerating China's push for semiconductor self-reliance, but this is a long-term trend.

However, Jablonski emphasized that investors should distinguish between "China's rising long-term technological competitiveness" and "immediate impact on U.S. semiconductor leaders' profitability," noting that the two should not be equated.