Group 1: Interest Rates and Economic Indicators - The central bank's policy rate remains at 2.25%, which was widely expected by economists [1] - The U.S. Federal Reserve has kept its key rate unchanged at approximately 3.6% after three cuts last year, indicating a stabilization in the job market and an upgrade in growth characterization from "modest" to "solid" [1] - Lower interest rates are particularly significant for Canadian homeowners, as many are renewing their mortgages this year [2] Group 2: Commodity Market Performance - Commodity prices positively influenced Canada's main stock index, which rose by 79.67 points to 33,176.07 [2] - The March silver contract increased by US$7.58 to US$113.53 per ounce, while the April gold contract rose by US$219.60 to US$5,340.20 per ounce [2] - Commodities are highlighted as a major sector for Canada, with silver and gold prices showing upward trends [3] Group 3: Stock Market Movements - The U.S. stock and bond markets remained stable, with the U.S. dollar stabilizing after a recent decline [4] - Seagate Technology experienced a significant gain of 19.1% after reporting better-than-expected profits, driven by demand from artificial intelligence applications [4] - Nvidia, a key player in the AI sector, rose by 1.6%, contributing to the S&P 500's performance, supported by a positive report from ASML regarding chip-making machinery [5] Group 4: Currency and Oil Prices - The Canadian dollar traded at 73.69 cents US, up from 73.42 cents US the previous day [5] - The March crude oil contract increased by US$0.82 to US$63.21 per barrel [5]

Federal Reserve - The Federal Reserve maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.5%–3.75% with a vote of 10–2, indicating a slight confidence in the labor market as the statement removed previous concerns about rising downside risks to employment [5][6] - Chairman Jerome Powell faced questions regarding the Fed's independence and the recent decline in the dollar, but he reiterated the commitment to central bank independence and stated that the Fed's decisions will be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis [4][5] Stock Market - Major stock indexes ended mixed, with the Nasdaq closing up 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed barely lower and higher, respectively [7] - Seagate Technology saw a significant rally after reporting stronger-than-expected results and issuing guidance above forecasts, with analysts expecting continued revenue and margin gains [10] Corporate Developments - AT&T reported a strong Q4 performance, exceeding expectations on both top and bottom lines, despite weaker subscriber metrics, and provided a full-year profit outlook above expectations [9] - Starbucks recorded its second consecutive quarter of positive comparable sales after a seven-quarter decline, projecting global and U.S. comp sales growth of 3% or more [9] - Amazon announced plans to cut approximately 16,000 corporate jobs as part of efforts to streamline operations, affecting a significant portion of its corporate workforce of around 350,000 [11][12]

The semiconductor rally really isn't slowing down right now. There's so many movers. Seagate up 15%.Texas Instruments up uh over oh 8% right now. We really got a trifecta of earnings from chip equipment makers and memory suppliers all saying the same thing. AI infrastructure demand is still running hot.ASML was the big one. Orders came in nearly double what analysts had expected. China revenue dropped to 20% of sales, which sounds bad from the low30s last year, but that's what the street wanted.They wanted ...

Core Viewpoint - Seagate Technology Holdings PLC experienced a significant stock increase following strong quarterly results and raised guidance, leading to two firms raising their price forecasts to $500 [1] Group 1: Analyst Price Forecasts - Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse raised the price forecast to $500 from $400, maintaining an Overweight rating, citing gross margins of approximately 70% during the December quarter and a gross margin guide of at least 44% [2] - Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kevin Cassidy also raised the price forecast to $500 from $370, maintaining a Buy rating, and increased the valuation multiple to 25 times from 20 times non-GAAP EPS, highlighting expanding gross margins above 45% and operating margins above 35% [4] Group 2: Earnings Performance - Seagate reported quarterly earnings of $3.11 per share, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.81, with quarterly revenue reaching $2.83 billion, exceeding the Street estimate of $2.73 billion and up from $2.33 billion in the same period last year [5] - CEO Dave Mosley noted that the December quarter results set new records for gross margin, operating margin, and non-GAAP EPS, reflecting strong operational execution and robust data center demand [6] Group 3: Capacity and Demand Outlook - The company's nearline storage capacity is fully booked through calendar 2026, with orders for the first half of 2027 expected to open soon, indicating strong demand visibility through 2027 [7] - Seagate anticipates third-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.20 to $3.60, compared to the $2.96 analyst estimate, and revenue of $2.8 billion to $3 billion, exceeding the $2.77 billion analyst estimate [8]

Core Viewpoint - Seagate Technology Holdings PLC experienced a significant stock increase following strong quarterly results and raised guidance, leading to two firms raising their price forecasts to $500 [1] Group 1: Analyst Price Forecasts - Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse raised the price forecast to $500 from $400, maintaining an Overweight rating, citing gross margins of approximately 70% during the December quarter and a gross margin guide of at least 44% [2] - Rosenblatt Securities analyst Kevin Cassidy also raised the price forecast to $500 from $370, maintaining a Buy rating, and increased the valuation multiple to 25 times from 20 times non-GAAP EPS, highlighting expanding gross margins above 45% and operating margins above 35% [4] Group 2: Earnings Performance - Seagate reported quarterly earnings of $3.11 per share, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.81, with quarterly revenue reaching $2.83 billion, exceeding the Street estimate of $2.73 billion and up from $2.33 billion in the same period last year [5][6] - The CEO of Seagate noted that the December quarter results set new records for gross margin, operating margin, and non-GAAP EPS, reflecting strong operational execution and robust data center demand [6] Group 3: Future Outlook - The company indicated that its nearline storage capacity is fully booked through calendar 2026, with orders for the first half of 2027 expected to open soon, and long-term agreements with major cloud customers provide strong demand visibility through 2027 [7] - Seagate expects third-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.20 to $3.60, compared to the $2.96 analyst estimate, and revenue of $2.8 billion to $3 billion, versus the $2.77 billion analyst estimate [8]

Core Insights - Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX) reported strong second-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with non-GAAP earnings of $3.11 per share, surpassing both the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.83 and management's guidance of $2.75 per share, reflecting a 19% quarter-over-quarter increase [1][10] - Non-GAAP revenues reached $2.83 billion, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.7% and showing a 22% year-over-year growth, driven by robust demand in data center markets [2][10] Financial Performance - The data center segment accounted for 79% of total revenue, amounting to $2.2 billion, which represents a 28% year-over-year growth and a 5% sequential increase [7] - The edge IoT segment contributed 21% of revenue, totaling $601 million, up 2% year over year and 17% sequentially, supported by seasonal strength in consumer products [8] - Seagate shipped 190 exabytes of HDD storage, a 26% year-over-year increase, with the data center market representing 87% of shipments [9] Strategic Positioning - The company's strategy focuses on balancing performance with cost efficiency, aligning with the growing demand for AI-generated data, suggesting sustained long-term demand [3] - Average nearline drive capacity increased by 22% year over year to nearly 23 TB per drive, indicating strong adoption of higher-capacity products [4] Margin and Cash Flow - Non-GAAP gross margin reached a record 42.2%, up 210 basis points quarter over quarter and 670 basis points year over year, driven by high-capacity product adoption [11] - Cash flow from operations was $723 million, compared to $532 million in the previous quarter, with free cash flow reaching $607 million, marking a 42% sequential increase [13] Future Outlook - For the fiscal third quarter, Seagate expects revenues of $2.9 billion, indicating a 34% year-over-year improvement, with non-GAAP earnings projected at $3.40 per share [15] - The company anticipates continued strong demand from global cloud customers, which is expected to offset typical seasonality in the edge IoT markets [15][17]

Seagate Technology's shares surged in premarket trading on Wednesday after the hard drive maker forecast third-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street expectations. The stock rose 10.3% to $410.0... ...

The hard disk drive maker's second-quarter earnings are the latest bit of good news for the thriving flash-memory sector. ...

Five things to know ahead of today's opening bell. The Fed will announce its latest interest rate decision. That's coming at 2 PM Eastern time.Investors expecting no change in the federal funds rate, but we will be paying close attention to Fed Chair J Pal's news conference for any clues about the future of rate paths. Elephants Health, formerly known as Anthem, out with its fourth quarter results. Those earnings beat expectations.revenue was a little bit light. Eleance shares though were down 14% yesterday ...

VONNIE: IT IS 5:00 A. M. IN NEW YORK CITY, I'M VONNIE QUINN WITH YOUR BLOOMBERG BRIEF.RECORD HIGHS I HAD A BIG TECH EARNINGS. AN EARLY BOOST TO THE MARKET ON A HIGH DEMAND. THE DOLLAR DESTABILIZING A BIT AFTER ITS WORST PERFORMANCE IN FOUR YEARS.PRESIDENT TRUMP BRUSHING OFF WOES, SPECULATION OF A LONGER-TERM DECLINE. CHAIR POWELL IS SURE TO GET QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE FED TRADERS PRICE IN A MORE DOVISH POLICY SHIFT UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP. LET'S LOOK AT THESE MARKETS BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE GREEN.TWO S ...