Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Seagate shares opened sharply lower, falling from a prior close of $753.25 to $693.93 before recovering to about $718.33. The decline reflects broader technology-sector volatility, rising bond yields and concerns about competition in storage markets.
• Despite the selloff, analysts remain broadly optimistic: Seagate has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $986. Expectations are supported by strong demand for high-capacity hard drives used in cloud computing and AI data infrastructure.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $5.71 in EPS and $3.63 billion in revenue, while guiding for $7.10–$7.50 in next-quarter EPS. Investors should also note elevated volatility and recent insider selling, although some transactions were tied to tax obligations or pre-arranged trading plans.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $753.25, but opened at $693.93. Seagate Technology shares last traded at $718.3320, with a volume of 1,327,126 shares trading hands.

More Seagate Technology News

Here are the key news stories impacting Seagate Technology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have not reduced their earnings estimates following Seagate’s recent selloff, while the average price target implies substantial upside from current levels. This suggests Wall Street largely continues to expect strong demand for Seagate’s hard drives, which support cloud infrastructure and AI data storage. Rapid Growth, High Volatility, and Near 50% Upside Confound Seagate Technology Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term coverage remains bullish on Seagate’s role in the AI infrastructure buildout. The company’s hard-drive business may benefit from rising data volumes without requiring exposure to the memory-chip manufacturing race. If You Invest $1,000 in Seagate Today, Here’s What It Could Be Worth by 2030
• Neutral Sentiment: Seagate recently underperformed other major technology stocks, highlighting investor caution after a powerful prior rally. The disparity between market performance and unchanged earnings expectations could increase volatility until the company provides fresh operating updates. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC stock underperforms Monday when compared to competitors
• Negative Sentiment: A selloff in Asian memory stocks, led by SK Hynix, spread to U.S. storage companies. News that Chinese memory producer CXMT is making progress on competing technology raised concerns about future industry competition and pressured Seagate despite the company not producing DRAM. SanDisk Drops 6% in Memory Selloff Despite Making No DRAM; Seagate Slides 4%
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also reassessing high-growth technology shares amid rising global bond yields and tighter financial conditions. That backdrop makes Seagate’s elevated valuation and historically high volatility more vulnerable to profit-taking, even with strong expected earnings growth.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Seagate Technology from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,095.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Seagate Technology from $1,035.00 to $1,187.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Seagate Technology from $775.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Seagate Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $986.00.

Seagate Technology Trading Down 3.1%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $853.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $795.71. The firm has a market cap of $166.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The data storage provider reported $5.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.61. Seagate Technology had a return on equity of 369.98% and a net margin of 26.11%. The business had revenue of $3.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 48.5% on a year-over-year basis. Seagate Technology has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 7.100-7.500 EPS. Analysts predict that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.70 earnings per share for the current year.

Seagate Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 24th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 24th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other news, CFO Gianluca Romano sold 49,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $772.16, for a total transaction of $38,595,645.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,634,952.96. This trade represents a 41.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP John Morris sold 9,354 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.91, for a total transaction of $8,211,970.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,922,411.63. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 466,959 shares of company stock worth $378,840,741. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seagate Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Seagate Technology by 2,655.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,414,136 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $2,329,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,538 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 834,705 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $805,490,000 after purchasing an additional 6,944 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 3,872.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 967,528 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $378,985,000 after purchasing an additional 943,170 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Seagate Technology by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 965,565 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $378,267,000 after purchasing an additional 235,359 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Seagate Technology by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 709,160 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $277,821,000 after purchasing an additional 285,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

About Seagate Technology

Seagate Technology Holdings plc is a data storage technology company that designs, manufactures and supplies solutions for storing, managing and accessing digital information. Its product portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity drives used in cloud data centers, enterprise environments, surveillance systems, network-attached storage and personal computing.

The company also offers solid-state drives (SSDs), storage systems, external storage products and related services.

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