Summary of NetApp (NTAP) 2025 Conference Call Company Overview - **Company**: NetApp (NTAP) - **Event**: 2025 Conference held on September 3, 2025 Key Industry Insights - **Industry**: Storage and Data Infrastructure - **Market Trends**: - The storage market has shown resilience despite macroeconomic challenges such as geopolitical uncertainties and tariffs [6][8] - Demand for enterprise IT spending remains cautious, influenced by central bank policies and global conflicts [6][8] Core Company Performance and Outlook - **Enterprise Business**: - Non-public sector enterprise business performed well, driven by priorities like enterprise AI readiness, cloud transformation, and cyber resilience [7][10] - Cloud storage business grew by 33% year-on-year, indicating strong demand [10] - **Market Position**: - NetApp is the number one player in the flash storage market, having gained market share consistently over the past few years [10][25] - The company is well-positioned to benefit from the growth of enterprise AI, which is still in its early stages [9][15] Demand Drivers - **Enterprise AI**: - The adoption of enterprise AI is expected to accelerate, with significant opportunities in sectors like public services, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare [15][16] - Companies are focusing on organizing and unifying data to leverage AI capabilities [13][15] - **Hybrid vs. Public Cloud**: - AI workloads typically start in the public cloud but transition to hybrid environments as data gravity increases [42][44] - The hybrid cloud segment is expected to grow as enterprises seek to optimize their data infrastructure for AI applications [42][44] Financial Performance and Margins - **Gross Margin Trends**: - Cloud gross margins have improved from mid-60s to a target range of 80%-85% due to a better mix of software revenue [31] - Product gross margins are expected to trend back up to mid to upper 50s in the second half of the year, driven by a shift towards flash storage [33] - **Cost Structure**: - NAND costs are projected to improve, which should positively impact product gross margins [34][36] Competitive Landscape - **Market Dynamics**: - The storage industry is competitive but rational, with NetApp maintaining a sticky software platform that is difficult for competitors to displace [52] - The company is positioned to capitalize on disruptions in the hyper-converged systems market, particularly with competitors like VMware [25][55] - **Customer Preferences**: - Customers are exploring alternatives to VMware due to pricing pressures, leading to increased interest in external storage solutions [58][60] Strategic Initiatives - **Software Capabilities**: - NetApp is focused on enhancing its software offerings to provide value-added services around data management, cybersecurity, and governance [45][62] - Upcoming customer conference is expected to showcase new software capabilities that can be monetized [62] Conclusion - **Investment Opportunity**: - NetApp is well-positioned to leverage its extensive installed base and software capabilities to drive growth in the AI era [62] - The company emphasizes its leadership in modern data infrastructure and the potential for significant revenue growth through enhanced software services [62]

Core Insights - C3.ai, Inc. is emphasizing its partner ecosystem as a crucial growth driver, with 73% of agreements in fiscal 2025 completed through partnerships, marking a 68% increase from the previous year [1][9] - The company reported a significant rise in partner-supported bookings, which surged 419% year over year in the fiscal fourth quarter, with 59 agreements signed through collaborations [1] Partnerships and Collaborations - The partnership with Microsoft is pivotal, resulting in 28 new agreements in the fiscal fourth quarter, particularly in manufacturing and chemicals [2] - Collaborations with Google Cloud and Amazon's AWS are also enhancing market reach and delivery capabilities [2] - New advisory alliances with McKinsey QuantumBlack and PwC are broadening distribution capacity and targeting key industries [3][4] Market Performance and Valuation - C3.ai shares have declined by 25.8% over the past year, compared to a 9.5% decline in the industry [7] - The company trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 5.58X, significantly lower than the industry average of 17.49X [8] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year decline of 239%, while fiscal 2027 shows a projected increase of 65.9% [11]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company achieved revenue of $1,560 million in Q1, which is above the midpoint of guidance and represents a 1% year-over-year increase [5][22] - Excluding the divested spot business, total revenue increased by 3% year-over-year [22] - Q1 hybrid cloud revenue was $1,400 million, up 1% year-over-year, driven by support revenue growth of 3% and professional services revenue growth of 18% [22] - Consolidated gross margin improved by 1.6 percentage points sequentially to 71.1% [24] - Operating profit was $400 million with an operating margin of 25.7% [26] - The company ended Q1 with $4,530 million in deferred revenue, up 9% year-over-year [23] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - All flash array revenue grew 6% year-over-year to $893 million, with a run rate of $3,600 million [10] - Public cloud revenue increased by 1% year-over-year to $161 million, and excluding spot, it was up 18% year-over-year [23] - Professional services revenue grew 18% year-over-year, driven by the Keystone offering, which increased approximately 80% compared to the same period last year [22][24] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The Americas enterprise performance offset declines in the U.S. Public sector and EMEA [6][21] - The company secured approximately 125 AI infrastructure and data lake modernization deals across various geographies and industries in Q1 [17] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on helping customers modernize their data infrastructure and advance cloud transformations, particularly in the emerging enterprise AI market [7][19] - The strategy includes enhancing profitability and free cash flow while consistently delivering value to customers and shareholders [28] - The company aims to maintain its leadership position in the all flash market and expand its cloud services [19][20] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management noted some macro-related spending caution but highlighted strong demand for AI solutions and cloud transformations [7][19] - The company expects revenue for Q2 to be $1,690 million, implying 2% growth year-over-year at the midpoint [27] - Full-year guidance for fiscal year 2026 remains between $6,625 million and $6,875 million, reflecting 3% growth year-over-year [28] Other Important Information - The company redeemed senior notes due in June 2025 for $757 million and returned $404 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends [26] - The balance sheet remains strong with $3,300 million in cash and short-term investments and $2,500 million in total debt, resulting in a net cash position of approximately $840 million [27] Q&A Session Summary Question: All flash revenue growth has decelerated from double digits to just 5%. What is driving this? - Management indicated that softness in the U.S. Public sector and EMEA contributed to the lower growth, but they anticipate improvement for the rest of the year [34][36] Question: How should we think about the seasonality into January? - Management expressed confidence in the outlook for the year, noting that Q2 is typically a strong budget spending quarter for the U.S. public sector [48] Question: What is the competitive landscape for all flash? - Management acknowledged a competitive environment but expressed confidence in their competitive position and did not see any specific adverse patterns in the quarter [102] Question: Can you elaborate on the AI wins and their magnitude? - Management reported over 125 AI wins in the quarter, with a mix of smaller and larger scale deployments, indicating strong momentum in AI adoption [41][66] Question: What is the strategy regarding hypervisor offerings? - The company supports a broad range of hypervisors and aims to continue providing support based on customer demand [125]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Total revenue for Q1 2026 was $1,560 million, up 1% year over year, exceeding the midpoint of guidance [21] - Excluding the divested spot business, total revenue increased by 3% year on year [21] - Q1 hybrid cloud revenue was $1,400 million, also up 1% year over year [21] - Product revenue decreased by 2% year over year to $654 million [21] - Public cloud revenue increased by 1% year over year to $161 million, and excluding spot, it was up 18% year over year [21] - Q1 consolidated gross margin improved by 1.6 percentage points sequentially to 71.1% [23] - Operating profit was $400 million with an operating margin of 25.7% [25] - Diluted EPS was $1.55, aligned with expectations [25] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - All flash array revenue grew 6% year over year to $893 million, with an annualized run rate of $3,600 million [8] - Professional services revenue grew 18% year over year to $97 million, driven by Keystone, which was up approximately 80% compared to the same period last year [21] - Recurring support business maintained a gross margin of 92.3% [23] - Public cloud gross margin was 80.1%, up 80 basis points sequentially and nine percentage points year over year [24] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Strong performance in The Americas enterprise offset declines in the U.S. Public sector and EMEA [5] - The company secured approximately 125 AI infrastructure and data lake modernization deals across various geographies and industries in Q1 [15] - The emerging enterprise AI market is driving urgency among customers to modernize data infrastructure [6] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on helping customers modernize their data infrastructure and advance cloud transformations [5] - The strategy includes enhancing profitability and free cash flow while delivering value to customers and shareholders [27] - The company aims to capitalize on growing opportunities in the enterprise AI sector [18] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management noted some macro-related spending caution but emphasized strong demand for AI solutions [6] - The company expects revenue for Q2 to be $1,690 million, implying 2% growth year over year at the midpoint [26] - Full year guidance for fiscal year 2026 remains between $6,625 million and $6,875 million, reflecting 3% growth year over year [27] Other Important Information - The company ended Q1 with $4,530 million in deferred revenue, up 9% year over year [22] - Cash flow from operations reached a record $673 million in Q1 [25] - The company redeemed senior notes due in June 2025 for $757 million [25] Q&A Session Summary Question: All flash revenue growth has decelerated from double digits to just 5%. What is driving this? - Management indicated that softness in the U.S. Public sector and EMEA contributed to lower growth, but they anticipate improvement for the rest of the year [34][36] Question: What is the outlook for enterprise AI adoption? - Management reported strong momentum with over 125 AI wins in Q1, indicating a shift from proof of concept to production [40] Question: How does the availability of 128 terabyte QLC based NAND impact search solutions for AI applications? - Management stated that they have a broad range of NAND technologies available and do not feel gated by any specific technology [44] Question: What is the competitive landscape for all flash storage? - Management expressed confidence in their competitive position despite challenges in certain markets, noting that high-performance flash outgrew capacity flash year on year [110] Question: Can you elaborate on the gross margin guidance for public cloud business? - Management explained that improvements in gross margin are driven by depreciation roll-off and increased software content in revenue [57]

Core Insights - NetApp, Inc. is set to release its first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on August 27, with expected non-GAAP earnings per share between $1.48 and $1.58, slightly down from the previous year [1][10] - Anticipated net sales are projected to range from $1.455 billion to $1.605 billion, reflecting a minor decline of 0.1% from the prior year [2][10] Financial Performance - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is currently at $1.54 per share, indicating a 1.3% decrease year-over-year [1][2] - The company has a history of beating estimates, achieving an average earnings surprise of 3.2% over the last four quarters [2] Growth Drivers - Increasing momentum in the all-flash portfolio and growth in cloud storage services are expected to support NetApp's performance [3] - The company has gained nearly 3 percentage points in all-flash market share and 1 percentage point in block storage in 2024 [4] - All-flash systems and public cloud services now account for over two-thirds of revenue, up from less than half five years ago [4] Segment Performance - The all-flash array annualized revenue run rate increased by 14% year-over-year to a record $4.1 billion [5] - The Public Cloud segment revenue is projected to reach $173 million, an 8.9% increase year-over-year, with first-party and marketplace storage services growing by 44% [7][10] Market Trends - The enterprise AI market is driving customers to modernize their data infrastructure, which is expected to enhance long-term growth prospects for NetApp [6] - Strong partnerships with hyperscalers like Amazon and Microsoft position NetApp favorably in the cloud infrastructure market [7] Outlook - Despite positive growth trends, the global macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, with anticipated customer spending caution and challenges in the U.S. Public Sector and EMEA [8]

Financial Performance - Lenovo Group achieved a record fiscal Q1 revenue of $18.8 billion, a 22% year-over-year increase[5] - Net income (HKFRS) reached $505 million, showing a significant 108% year-over-year growth[5] - Non-HKFRS net income was $389 million, a 22% year-over-year increase[5] - The company's cash and cash equivalents stood at $4.5 billion, up 15% year-over-year[37] Business Group Performance - Intelligent Devices Group (IDG) revenue was $13.5 billion, up 18% year-over-year, with an operating margin of 7.1%[9] - Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) revenue reached $4.3 billion, a 36% year-over-year increase[14] - Solutions & Services Group (SSG) achieved a record-high revenue of $2.3 billion, a 20% year-over-year increase, with an operating margin of 22.2%[20] Growth Drivers and Investments - R&D investment increased by 10% year-over-year to $524 million in Q1 FY25/26[40] - AI infrastructure revenue more than doubled year-over-year, indicating strong growth in this area[14] - Managed Services revenue within SSG grew by 36% year-over-year[20] Market Share and Geographic Performance - PC market share reached a record high of 24.6%, securing the 1 position in the global Windows AI PC market[9] - Smartphone revenue increased by 14% year-over-year, with a 51% market share in foldables outside of China[9] - China business revenue within ISG experienced hypergrowth year-over-year, with significant operating margin improvement[14]

Multimodal AI & Metadata - Multimodal AI is essential for enterprises to truly benefit from AI [1] - Metadata tagging and movement are crucial for the economics of AI to work, given limitations in data center space and power [1] - Metadata attributes are very key to the success of AI initiatives [1] Data Intelligence & Business Value - The core focus should be on a metadatarrier infrastructure that can handle low-latency object transformation to gain insight [2] - The ultimate goal of bringing data into the environment to train models is to gain data intelligence [2] - AI initiatives must result in business value for enterprises and leisure value for consumers [3]

Core Insights - The integration of OpenAI's GPT-5 model into GPTBots.ai represents a significant advancement in enterprise AI, enhancing intelligence, precision, and efficiency for businesses [1][2] - GPT-5 is described as OpenAI's most advanced model, offering PhD-level expertise across various domains and introducing capabilities such as enhanced reasoning and reduced hallucinations [2][5] Innovations and Features - Unified Intelligence for Complex Workflows: The multi-agent system powered by GPT-5 allows seamless collaboration among agents for dynamic task execution in areas like customer support and sales insights [3][6] - Expert-Level Decision-Making: GPT-5's advanced reasoning capabilities provide precise and actionable insights, improving decision-making processes [5] - Enhanced Accuracy and Reliability: GPT-5 achieves a 45% reduction in hallucinations, resulting in more accurate and trustworthy responses [5] - Proactive and Context-Aware Intelligence: The model can analyze context and infer intent, transforming AI into a proactive thought partner [5] - Multimodal Excellence: GPT-5's ability to interpret charts and analyze images enhances problem-solving capabilities [5][6] Business Impact - Dynamic Agent Collaboration: Multiple agents can work together to automate customer interactions and generate business insights [6] - Real-Time Adaptive Intelligence: GPT-5's router selects the optimal reasoning model for tasks, ensuring high performance [6] - Scalable Innovation: The platform caters to both startups and large enterprises, providing tailored AI-driven solutions [6][7] Strategic Positioning - The integration of GPT-5 sets a new standard for enterprise AI, enhancing GPTBots' capabilities and establishing a benchmark for intelligent automation [7] - GPTBots aims to streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and deliver superior customer experiences through intelligent automation [8]

Investor Presentation August 2025 Before you invest, you should read our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the other documents we have filed and may in the future file with the SEC for more complete information about the Company. You may obtain these documents for free on our website or by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any ...

The core of this collaboration, driven by the integration of market-leading AI capabilities, lies in empowering businesses to move from reactive support to anticipatory and personalized customer interactions across all digital channels. Key industry-shaping components include: By partnering with Google Cloud, LivePerson is uniquely positioned to redefine enterprise customer experiences, enhancing its platform with unparalleled AI sophistication and solidifying its leadership in conversational AI and digital ...