Tigris has raised $25 million to expand its growing network of localized data storage centers — the storage layer for decentralized computing infrastructure. https://t.co/RlcDEOgbNC ...

September 28, 2025 09:00 PM GMT IT Hardware M North America Insight Stronger For Longer — Materially Raising our HDD Price Targets & Forecasts Strengthening demand for data-enabling technologies is widening the HDD supply/demand gap and extending cycle peak into CY28. This 'Stronger for Longer' cycle should drive record growth and margins, with a structural re-rating still underappreciated by market. Remain OW WDC/STX; WDC still Top Pick. Morgan Stanley does and seeks to do business with companies covered i ...

Core Viewpoint - Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) is experiencing significant stock price appreciation following strong quarterly results and is expected to continue delivering impressive revenue growth in the coming years [1][3]. Group 1: Financial Performance and Projections - Analysts project Oracle's revenue and EPS for FY28 to increase by 25% to 30%, with overall revenue growth approaching 50% in the next few years [2]. - The company's booked revenue is anticipated to exceed $0.5 trillion, indicating robust demand for its services [3]. Group 2: Competitive Advantages - Oracle maintains a strong market position in enterprise databases and ERP software, catering to large clients such as banks and hospitals [3]. - The company differentiates itself by offering cost-effective cloud services while integrating SaaS, ERP, and HCM, which creates high switching costs for clients [3]. - Oracle's competitive advantages include a large and experienced direct sales force, a founder-driven management team focused on maintaining a leading intellectual property portfolio, and high client retention rates in the mid-90% range [4][5]. Group 3: Future Outlook - There are expectations for additional contracts and bookings in the upcoming months, with an AI world conference scheduled next month in Las Vegas, where further positive developments are anticipated [2]. - The stock is currently trading at a mid-30s earnings multiple for FY28, comparable to Microsoft, suggesting it is not overly expensive despite recent gains [2].

Core Message - AI is essentially HPC (High Performance Computing), emphasizing the importance of data in both fields for extracting intelligence and value [1] - DDN (DataDirect Networks) provides the "rocket fuel" or data intelligence infrastructure that enables better, faster, and more accurate insights from massive datasets in real-time [1] - Data intelligence is critical for AI transformation, enablement, and acceleration, requiring the unification, curation, and analysis of distributed data from various sources [1] Challenges and Solutions - Current challenges hindering AI acceleration include GPU scarcity, limited data center space, and insufficient power; a data intelligence framework is needed to alleviate these issues [2] - DDN's solutions focus on delivering more capabilities from existing GPUs, shrinking data center footprint, and lowering power consumption [2] - DDN accelerates data ingestion, freeing up GPU cycles, and optimizing networks to reduce time to insight and enhance value [2] DDN's Technology and Positioning - DDN is the only data intelligence platform deployed internally at NVIDIA, and also supports massive deployments like XAI with over 100,000 GPUs [1] - DDN's new technology, Infinia, is a high-performance, multi-tenancy data intelligence platform that supports multiple protocols and minimizes data movement [2] - DDN's solutions maximize the value from infrastructures deployed at scale in data centers and the cloud, benefiting both HPC and AI applications [3] Market Impact and Growth - DDN powers more than half a million GPUs and has deployments at the exobyte level, demonstrating significant growth and scale [3] - DDN's ability to solve challenges at massive scale translates to bulletproof stability and cost-effectiveness across a broad range of installations [3] - DDN aims to accelerate scientific and business outcomes by handling data at the edge, in data centers, and in the cloud [3]

>> Com for imprint for certain. >> Welcome back to The Exchange Bernstein. Initiating coverage with an outperform rating on four key IT hardware names this morning.The firm saying they see big gains ahead for Apple, Dell, SanDisk and Seagate as AI spending continues to ramp. Those four names in the green so far this month. But there is one that is outperforming the rest so far this year, and that is Seagate.Our mystery chart from earlier. It is up 142% in 2025. It's also the name Bernstein says they are mos ...

Joining me now an exclusive is Box CEO and co-founder Aaron Levy. Aaron, it's been a while. It's good to see you. >> Hey, good to see you.Thanks for having me. So, I'm really curious for some detail here around Box Enterprise Advance and particularly the uptake of these AI components. Number of headlines out saying that companies aren't really getting productivity benefit out of AI yet, but those are kind of suspect.What are you seeing on your platform. Yeah. So I think um uh f first of all there there uh t ...

Seagate's Strategy and Innovation - Seagate is focused on enabling global technology megatrends through innovative data storage solutions[12] - The company is innovating data storage at scale with HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording) technology to meet the world's growing data needs[12, 32] - Seagate's Mozaic (HAMR) products offer cost-efficient capacity scaling by storing more data on each disk, rather than adding more disks[34] - The company is developing Mozaic 5+ with a path to 10TB per disk[82, 110] Market Trends and Demand - Data generation is fueling data center storage demand, with a projected mid-20% exabyte CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)[20] - AI is poised to drive the next wave of mass capacity storage demand, as AI relies on mass capacity storage[23, 24] - Emerging Edge AI use cases are driving extraordinary CAGRs in various industries, such as financial services (+40%), video intelligence (+36%), smart factory (+31%), smart grid (+29%), and hospitals (+34%)[134] Financial Performance and Targets - Seagate has generated over $4 billion in free cash flow[60, 64] - The company is targeting a gross margin of 40% with further expansion opportunities[204, 213] - Seagate is committed to returning over 75% of free cash flow to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases[213, 219] - The company is raising its share repurchase authorization to $5 billion[68, 215, 219]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - For the third fiscal quarter, the company reported revenue of $2.3 billion, down 5% sequentially but up 31% year over year [15] - Non-GAAP gross margin was 40.1%, reflecting a sequential improvement of 1.7 percentage points [17] - Non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) was $1.36, driven by disciplined cost management and tax benefits [15][17] - Free cash flow for the quarter was $436 million [20] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Cloud business represented 87% of total revenue at $2 billion, down 4% sequentially but up 38% year over year [16] - Client business accounted for 6% of total revenue at $137 million, down 2% sequentially and year over year [16] - Consumer segment represented 7% of revenue at $150 million, down 13% sequentially and 4% year over year [17] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Nearline bit shipments decreased by 6% sequentially to 145 exabytes, while average price per unit increased by 4% sequentially to $179 [16] - Demand from hyperscale customers remains robust despite broader market uncertainties [12][13] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on three pillars for capital allocation: reinvestment in the business, debt reduction, and returning cash to shareholders [11] - The introduction of a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share reflects confidence in long-term cash generation ability [21] - The company is addressing tariff-related challenges through cross-functional teams and strategic evaluations of supply chain shifts [12] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management acknowledged the current uncertain environment driven by tariffs and global trade tensions but remains optimistic about data center demand [12][14] - The company expects sequential revenue growth in the fiscal fourth quarter, driven by sustained strength in data center demand [14] - Management emphasized the importance of long-term agreements with hyperscale customers for better visibility and planning [13][32] Other Important Information - The company successfully redeemed $1.8 billion of its 2026 senior notes, strengthening its balance sheet [11][20] - The effective tax rate for the fiscal third quarter was 2%, lower than expected due to one-time deferred tax benefits [19] Q&A Session Summary Question: Inquiry about capital allocation and dividend growth - Management stated that once net leverage is reduced to the target range of 1.0-1.5x, they intend to return 100% of excess cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks [28] Question: Visibility on revenue margins and EPS growth - Management indicated that long-term agreements with customers provide greater visibility and confidence in strong demand through 2025 and into 2026 [32] Question: Clarification on tariff impacts - Management noted that while there is demand uncertainty in certain segments due to tariffs, they do not anticipate direct tariff impacts on pricing or costs in Q4 [36] Question: Discussion on gross margin expectations - Management highlighted that strong gross margins are driven by technology value and operational discipline, with potential for continued expansion [40][73] Question: Insights on LTAs and their benefits - Management explained that LTAs provide critical visibility and help maintain supply-demand balance, with agreements extending from three to six months to nine to twelve months [87] Question: Commentary on exabyte growth and capacity - Management stated that exabyte growth is primarily driven by technology improvements, allowing for capacity increases without significant capital expenditures [46] Question: Future of non-enterprise and non-cloud markets - Management confirmed that these markets remain a material part of the business, with ongoing efforts to drive growth in those areas [98]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - In Q3 FY 2025, the company reported revenue of $1.64 billion, reflecting a 2% year-over-year growth, although it was $44 million below the midpoint of guidance [31] - Billings increased to $1.71 billion, also up 2% year-over-year, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth [31] - Operating margin was reported at 30%, exceeding expectations, while EPS was $1.91, in line with guidance [36][37] - Operating cash flow decreased to $385 million from $484 million a year ago, and free cash flow was $338 million compared to $448 million a year ago [37] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Hybrid cloud revenue increased by 1% year-over-year, while the all-flash array business grew by 10%, reaching an annualized revenue run rate of $3.8 billion [10] - Support revenue declined by 2% year-over-year to $621 million, but was flat in constant currency [32] - Professional services revenue grew by 14% year-over-year, primarily driven by the Keystone Storage-as-a-Service offering, which saw nearly 60% growth [32] - Public cloud revenue increased by 15% year-over-year to $174 million, with first-party and marketplace storage services growing over 40% [20][32] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company noted a cautious environment in European markets, particularly in France and Germany, and some caution in the US public sector [57] - The public cloud segment, excluding Spot by NetApp, grew 21% year-over-year, indicating a healthy demand environment [20][32] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on enhancing its AI solutions and has seen significant demand for AI infrastructure and data lake modernization, with over 100 AI-related wins in Q3 [14] - The divestiture of Spot by NetApp is part of a strategy to streamline operations and focus on core offerings [18][41] - The company aims to maintain a strong operating margin and free cash flow generation while controlling expenses [30] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management acknowledged that Q3 performance did not meet expectations but expressed confidence in returning to growth in Q4 due to improved sales execution [24] - The company expects a slight decrease in FY 2025 guidance due to the divestiture of Spot, foreign exchange impacts, and near-term headwinds in the public sector [25][41] - Management remains optimistic about achieving long-term financial goals set during the Investor Day [24][48] Other Important Information - The company returned over $300 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, reducing the diluted share count by 3 million shares year-over-year [30] - The balance sheet remains healthy, with approximately $2.3 billion in cash and short-term investments against $2 billion in debt [40] Q&A Session Summary Question: Sales execution issues and rectification efforts - Management noted that several large deals slipped into Q4 due to procurement delays, but many have since closed, and tighter controls on deal progression are being implemented [51][53] Question: Public sector performance and caution - Management confirmed that there is caution in European markets and some in the US public sector, but overall performance in Q3 was as planned [57][58] Question: Competitive landscape and QLC mix - Management stated that the competitive landscape remains strong, with no significant changes, and highlighted the successful refresh of the product portfolio [62] Question: Product gross margins and future expectations - Management discussed expectations for product gross margins to stabilize and potentially improve as new products gain traction and costs decline [73] Question: Impact of divestiture of Spot on revenue - The divestiture is expected to have a neutral impact on EPS, with trailing cloud revenue from Spot being approximately $94 million [88][90] Question: AI in enterprise and storage grid enhancements - Management indicated that AI adoption is growing, with clients establishing AI centers of excellence, and enhancements to storage solutions are aimed at capitalizing on this trend [121][122] Question: Tariffs and supply chain flexibility - Management emphasized a flexible global supply chain that mitigates tariff impacts, particularly due to reduced dependency on China [128][130]