Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) Stock Price Down 8% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Seagate shares fell 8% to about $644.58 amid a broad selloff in semiconductor, memory and storage stocks, with trading volume 29% above average. Valuation concerns and recent analyst price-target cuts outweighed the company’s strong earnings results.
• Seagate reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of approximately $4.23 billion, up 61% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $7.68 versus the $7.44 consensus estimate. Record free cash flow, AI data-center demand and cloud-storage growth support the longer-term outlook.
• Despite the decline, analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $1,000.88, while Seagate raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share. Elevated expectations, insider selling and valuation risk remain key investor concerns.

Shares of Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) fell 8% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $625.30 and last traded at $644.58. Approximately 5,756,007 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 4,474,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $700.47.

Seagate Technology News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Seagate reported fiscal Q1 revenue of approximately $4.23 billion, up 61% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS of $7.68, exceeding the $7.44 consensus estimate. Record free cash flow of roughly $1.5 billion and demand from AI data centers and cloud-storage customers strengthen the growth outlook. Seagate Q1 Earnings Ride Record Cash Flow And AI Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and financial publications continue to highlight Seagate’s exposure to AI infrastructure, mass-capacity storage demand, improved pricing power, strong return on equity and comparatively attractive valuation versus Western Digital. Several firms maintain positive or buy-equivalent views, including Wells Fargo and Wedbush. Should Investors Buy Seagate Shares After Q1 Earnings Momentum?
• Positive Sentiment: Seagate was included among companies announcing dividend increases, giving income-oriented investors an additional reason to hold the shares amid market volatility and interest-rate uncertainty. Stocks That Declared Dividend Hikes
• Neutral Sentiment: Seagate’s Mozaic technology and nearline drive shipments remain important catalysts for expanding storage capacity in AI data centers, but investors appear to have already priced in substantial earnings growth following the stock’s strong run.
• Negative Sentiment: A broad selloff in semiconductor, memory and storage shares pressured STX alongside Sandisk, Western Digital and Micron, even after Sandisk delivered an earnings beat and raised guidance. This suggests valuation concerns and risk reduction are outweighing near-term earnings strength. Storage Stocks Sell Off Despite Strong Results
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms reduced Seagate price targets, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, TD Cowen, Susquehanna and Wells Fargo, while Summit Insights downgraded the stock. Although some analysts still see substantial upside, the target reductions are weighing on sentiment and highlighting elevated expectations and valuation risk. Morgan Stanley Cuts Seagate Price Target

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $1,350.00 target price on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Seagate Technology in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Seagate Technology from $1,300.00 to $1,050.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,350.00 price target on shares of Seagate Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,000.88.

Seagate Technology Stock Down 8.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $146.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85 and a beta of 2.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $803.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $686.80.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The data storage provider reported $7.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.44 by $0.24. Seagate Technology had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 252.47%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Seagate Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 61.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Seagate Technology Holdings PLC will post 35.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Seagate Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 23rd. This is a boost from Seagate Technology's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Seagate Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.97%.

Insider Activity at Seagate Technology

In other news, CEO William D. Mosley sold 11,002 shares of Seagate Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.60, for a total value of $10,293,471.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 362,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $338,788,244.80. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP James Lee sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.14, for a total transaction of $351,250.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,899.18. This trade represents a 34.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 466,812 shares of company stock valued at $378,583,042. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,326,538 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Seagate Technology by 3,872.1% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 67.6% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 709,160 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $277,821,000 after purchasing an additional 285,949 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Seagate Technology by 32.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 965,565 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $378,267,000 after purchasing an additional 235,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Seagate Technology by 119.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 378,527 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $147,753,000 after purchasing an additional 206,196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

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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