As the hard drive industry continues its recovery following the tragic flooding in Thailand last fall, Seagate is rebounding quickly and surpassing Wall Street expectations.
Seagate reported a fiscal third quarter net income of $1.1 billion, or $2.48 a share (statement). Non-GAAP earnings were $2.64 a share on a revenue of $4.4 billion.
Wall Street was expecting Seagate to report third quarter earnings of $2.11 cents a share on revenue of $4.4 billion.
Seagate chairman and CEO Steve Luczo commented in prepared remarks:
Seagate delivered strong performance this quarter by concentrating our efforts toward supporting our customers as the recovery of the hard drive industry continues to progress.
Importantly, during this challenging period, Seagate has successfully transitioned its portfolio to industry-leading products across all markets thereby positioning the company for continued leadership through operational excellence.”
Seagate has actually been one of the lucky ones in the aftermath of the hard drive shortage that occurred as a result of the Thailand floods. Along with strong earnings for the second fiscal quarter, a report from IHS iSuppli recently posited that Seagate actually got a boost from the natural disaster.
That's mainly thanks to geography as Seagate's HDD manufacturing plants are on higher ground, in comparison to Western Digital, which saw its facilities engulfed by the floods.
By the numbers:
- Generated approximately $938 million in cash from operations
- Repurchased 43.1 million shares of common stock and for the early retirement of debt
- Non-GAAP total operating expenses (excluding the net impact of certain adjustments) was $3,164 million. Those adjustments include the acquisition and integration costs associated with the acquisition of Samsung’s hard disk drive business, which was completed in December 2011.
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