Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price Down 7.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Seagate shares fell 7.9% to $642.14 on elevated trading volume, despite generally bullish analyst sentiment and strong expectations for the company’s fiscal 2027 outlook.
• Analysts cited robust cloud, data-center and AI-related storage demand, with several firms raising price targets; Seagate’s latest quarter also beat estimates, with revenue up 48.5% year over year.
• High valuation and elevated expectations create downside risk ahead of results, as investors may take profits or react negatively if earnings and guidance only meet—not exceed—forecasts. Recent insider sales were attributed to tax withholding obligations.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 7.9% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $629.00 and last traded at $642.14. 5,576,947 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the average session volume of 4,402,166 shares. The stock had previously closed at $696.89.

Trending Headlines about Seagate Technology

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets: J.P. Morgan initiated a Buy rating, while Morgan Stanley and Bank of America expressed optimism. Bank of America raised its price target to $1,200 from $1,150, citing stronger-than-expected HDD demand and forecasting first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue near the high end of guidance. J.P. Morgan Buy rating Bank of America price target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Data-center and AI storage demand: Research coverage points to robust nearline HDD demand from cloud and data-center customers, improving pricing power and a strong enterprise-storage product pipeline. These trends could support revenue, margins and earnings growth. Seagate bullish case
• Positive Sentiment: Favorable earnings setup: Seagate’s first-quarter fiscal 2027 outlook remains strong, supported by storage demand and pricing. Zacks upgraded the stock to Rank #2 (Buy) and added it to its Strong Buy list, citing the company’s history of earnings surprises and favorable estimate trends. Seagate earnings preview Zacks earnings estimate analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Results are the next major catalyst: Investors are focused on whether Seagate can meet or exceed its fiscal 2027 guidance. Strong expectations provide upside potential, but they also increase the risk of a “sell-the-news” reaction if results or guidance are merely in line.
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation concerns: Seagate has been among the year’s strongest memory and storage performers, prompting debate over whether investors should lock in gains. Its elevated valuation and high expectations leave the stock vulnerable to profit-taking ahead of earnings, even with favorable fundamentals. Storage stock rally and profit-taking analysis

Analyst Ratings Changes

STX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wedbush raised their price target on Seagate Technology from $825.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,095.00 to $1,240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Seagate Technology from $1,180.00 to $865.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,350.00 target price on shares of Seagate Technology in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Seagate Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $975.92.

Seagate Technology Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.26 and a beta of 2.06. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $833.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $810.11.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The data storage provider reported $5.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.10 by $0.61. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 26.11% and a return on equity of 369.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. The company's 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. As a group, analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 24th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 24th. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Insider Transactions at Seagate Technology

In other Seagate Technology news, EVP John Morris sold 15,466 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $772.15, for a total transaction of $11,942,071.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,132 shares in the company, valued at $24,038,573.80. This represents a 33.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William Mosley sold 97,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $772.14, for a total transaction of $75,584,012.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 378,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,952,311.12. The trade was a 20.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 466,959 shares of company stock worth $378,840,741 over the last quarter. 0.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Seagate Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MBL Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 131.2% during the third quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,687,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $2,899,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Seagate Technology by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $123,000. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Seagate Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $277,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Seagate Technology Company Profile

Seagate Technology Holdings plc NASDAQ: STX is a data storage company that develops and manufactures mass-capacity storage products and solutions. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud data centers, enterprise systems, network-attached storage, video and imaging applications, and personal computers.

The company also provides storage-related services and solutions designed to help organizations store, manage, protect, and access large volumes of digital information.

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