Seagate(US:STX)2026-01-29 02:20Seagate FY2Q26 Earnings Call Summary Company Overview - Company: Seagate Technology Holdings PLC - Industry: Data Storage Solutions Key Financial Metrics - Revenue for FY2Q26: $2.825 billion, YoY +22%, QoQ +7%, exceeding guidance [1] - Non-GAAP EPS: $3.11, YoY +53%, QoQ +19%, exceeding guidance [1] - Non-GAAP Gross Margin: 42.2%, YoY +670 bps, QoQ +210 bps, driven by increased adoption of high-capacity products and pricing strategies [1] - Operating Profit Margin (OPM): 31.9%, YoY +880 bps, QoQ +290 bps [1] - Free Cash Flow (FCF): $607 million, QoQ +42%, highest in the past eight years [1] Business Segment Performance 1. Data Center - Revenue: $2.224 billion, YoY +28%, QoQ +5%, driven by AI application proliferation and enterprise edge data storage demand [2] 2. Edge IoT - Revenue: $601 million, YoY +2%, QoQ +17%, primarily due to seasonal improvement in consumer products in the VIA client market [2] Business Highlights 1. Total Hard Drive Capacity Shipped: 190 EB, YoY +26% - Units remained flat, but average nearline single-drive capacity increased by approximately 22% due to customer transition to higher-capacity drives [2] - Nearline EB expected to grow mid-20% in 2026 [2] - 2026 production capacity sold out, with volume and price already determined; consensus on 2027 sales with prices likely stable or slightly increasing, strong demand visibility [2] 2. Demand Drivers - AI is driving strong growth, generating significant checkpoint data for model training [2] - Agentic AI requires substantial contextual data for planning, reasoning, and decision-making [2] - AI-driven video generation is increasing demand for high-capacity storage [2] - Data center big data storage architecture based on HDD remains stable, with future optimizations focused on streaming performance rather than random small block workloads [2] 3. Technological Advancements - Mozaic 3+ HAMR production ramp-up ongoing, with all major U.S. CSP certifications completed; global CSP certification expected in 1H26 [2] - Mozaic 4+ HAMR to complete multiple certifications in the coming months, with mass production starting in FY3Q26 [2] 4. Capital Expenditure and Depreciation - CAPEX maintained at a low level of 4%-6% of revenue, with depreciation over ten years [2] Future Outlook - FY3Q26 revenue expected to be $2.9 billion ± $100 million [4] - Non-GAAP OPM projected to approach mid-thirties percentage [4] - Non-GAAP EPS forecasted at $3.40 ± $0.20 [4] - Strong demand in data centers anticipated to offset seasonal impacts in the Edge IoT market [4] - Cost per TB expected to decrease after mass production of 40TB drives, further enhancing gross margin [4]