Polstob
About Polstob
About Polstob
ENJAKODEFRESPTITNLPLSVNODAFI
Tue, 27 Oct 2026
BreakingEarnings

Seagate beats its own forecast and guides to a $4.8bn quarter

Fiscal Q1 revenue of $4,233m and non-GAAP EPS of $7.68 cleared the top of Seagate's July ranges. The shares were down 6.27% after hours at 4:43 PM ET.

By AI markets desk·Sources: 4 sources·Published ·AI-generated·2 min read
Key facts
  • Revenue · Quarter to 2 October 20264,233 $m +61% vs $2,629m a year ago, Polstob calc
  • Diluted EPS (non-GAAP) · Quarter to 2 October 20267.68 $ July guide: $7.10 to $7.50
  • Diluted EPS (GAAP) · Quarter to 2 October 20267.59 $ $2.43 a year earlier
  • FQ2 2027 revenue guidance · Guidance issued 27 October 20264.7-4.9 $bn $4.8bn plus or minus $100m
  • FQ2 2027 diluted EPS guidance (non-GAAP) · Guidance issued 27 October 20269.00-9.40 $ $9.20 plus or minus $0.20
  • Quarterly dividend · Announced 27 October 2026 (US time)0.76 $ per share Up from $0.74

Seagate Technology reported revenue of $4,233m for its fiscal first quarter, which ended on 2 October 2026, in a results release furnished to the SEC after the US market close on 27 October 2026. In its July release, the hard-drive maker had forecast $4.1bn, plus or minus $100m, so the result sits above the top of that range. Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $7.68 also beat the upper end of its July guidance of $7.30, plus or minus $0.20 (a range of $7.10 to $7.50). Revenue was 61% higher than the $2,629m of a year earlier, by Polstob's calculation, and GAAP diluted EPS rose to $7.59 from $2.43.

Range

Seagate revenue guidance for fiscal Q2 2027

$4.7bn $4.8bn minus $100m$4.9bn $4.8bn plus $100m

Fiscal Q1 2027 actual: $4.23bn

Source: Seagate fiscal Q1 2027 results release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), Guidance issued 27 October 2026.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2027, Seagate guides to revenue of $4.8bn, plus or minus $100m ($4.7bn to $4.9bn), and $9.20 a share of non-GAAP diluted EPS, give or take $0.20 ($9.00 to $9.40), a figure that excludes known pre-tax charges for estimated share-based compensation of $0.30 a share. The revenue midpoint is about $570m above the first-quarter figure, by Polstob's calculation. The guidance covers one quarter; the release gave no full-year outlook.

Chair and chief executive Dave Mosley said: “Seagate delivered another quarter of record profitability and our highest ever free cash flow in the September quarter ...” In the July release, Mosley credited cloud data-centre demand for Seagate's performance and said: “As AI accelerates data generation and its value, we see durable long-term demand for mass capacity storage.”

Seagate margins, GAAP and non-GAAP
  • Gross margin (GAAP)57.3%+17.9 pp
  • Gross margin (non-GAAP)57.8%+17.7 pp
  • Operating margin (GAAP)48.8%+22.4 pp
  • Operating margin (non-GAAP)50.7%+21.7 pp

Fiscal Q1 2027Fiscal Q1 2026

Source: Seagate fiscal Q1 2027 results release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), Quarter to 2 October 2026.

Operating cash flow was $1.7bn and free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, $1.5bn. Seagate said it repaid about $1.2bn of debt principal during the quarter, cutting gross debt to $2.4bn, and a further $750m after the quarter ended, which brought it to $1.6bn. It returned $568m to shareholders through dividends and buybacks and lifted the quarterly dividend to $0.76 from $0.74, an increase it described as approximately 3%, payable on 7 January 2027.

Nasdaq.com showed a consensus EPS forecast of $7.17 for the quarter, from four estimates. Polstob has not set Seagate's $7.68 non-GAAP figure against it because the bases may differ: for the June quarter the site records EPS of $5.48, while Seagate reported non-GAAP EPS of $5.71 in July. Polstob found no revenue consensus it could cite.

Seagate shares were down 6.27% at $625.99 in after-hours trading as of 4:43 PM ET (21:43 CET) on 27 October, according to Nasdaq.com after-hours data, having closed the regular session up 3.67% at $667.85. The release did not address the move. The company scheduled a webcast for 5:00 PM ET the same day.