# Seagate Beats Fiscal Q4 Estimates With Record Margins, Guides September Quarter to $4.1B on AI Storage Demand > Source: > Published: 2026-07-29 15:53:35.702365+00:00 # Seagate Beats Fiscal Q4 Estimates With Record Margins, Guides September Quarter to $4.1B on AI Storage Demand - Seagate posted fiscal Q4 revenue of $3.63 billion (up 48% YoY) and non-GAAP EPS of $5.71, topping the $3.48 billion and $5.09 consensus estimates [[1]](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260728962365/en/Seagate-Technology-Reports-Fiscal-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-2026-Financial-Results) - Non-GAAP gross margin hit a record 52.7%, up 570 basis points sequentially and 1,070 basis points year-over-year [[2]](https://finance.biggo.com/news/US_STX_2026-07-28) - September-quarter guidance calls for $4.1 billion in revenue and $7.30 EPS, well above the $5.87 analyst estimate, with operating margins approaching 50% [[3]](https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/stx-stock-rallies-as-much-as-9-after-hours-on-q4-beat-raised-guidance-and-locked-in-2028-demand/cZZ6Ph2RJbu) - Data-center revenue reached $2.93 billion — 81% of total sales — with HAMR-based Mozaic drives now representing 40% of nearline exabyte shipments [[2]](https://finance.biggo.com/news/US_STX_2026-07-28) - STX shares rose as much as 9% after hours to roughly $815 after falling 8.5% in the regular session [[4]](https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-seagate-beats-q4-2026-forecasts-as-shares-rebound-after-hours-93CH-4818284) Seagate Technology reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that blew past Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, posting revenue of $3.63 billion and non-GAAP diluted earnings of $5.71 per share. Analysts had forecast $3.48 billion in revenue and $5.09 in adjusted EPS, making the beat 4.3% on the top line and 12.2% on the bottom line [[1]](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260728962365/en/Seagate-Technology-Reports-Fiscal-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-2026-Financial-Results) [2]. The storage maker's guidance for the September quarter was even more striking: revenue of $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, representing 56% year-over-year growth at the midpoint, and adjusted EPS of $7.30, plus or minus $0.20 — a figure well above the $5.87 consensus [3]. CEO Dave Mosley said fiscal 2027 revenue growth will "outpace" fiscal 2026's 34% expansion, with sequential improvement in revenue, margins, and cash flow every quarter . [[2]](https://finance.biggo.com/news/US_STX_2026-07-28)Shares of Seagate, which had fallen 8.5% during Tuesday's regular session to $747.75 amid broader market weakness, reversed sharply in after-hours trading, climbing as much as 9% as investors absorbed the results and bullish outlook [4]. The report arrives as a counterpoint to recent selloffs in AI-linked equities, signaling that enterprise data-storage demand from hyperscaler and AI workloads remains robust. ## The Numbers Fiscal Q4 revenue of $3.63 billion rose 17% sequentially and 48% year-over-year. Non-GAAP gross margin reached a record 52.7%, expanding 570 basis points from the prior quarter and 1,070 basis points from the year-ago period. Operating margin hit 44.6%, up 710 basis points sequentially [2]. Free cash flow for the quarter was $1.1 billion, which Seagate called its strongest quarterly result in more than a decade. For the full fiscal year 2026, the company generated $12.2 billion in revenue (up 34% year-over-year), non-GAAP EPS of $15.58 (up 92%), and record free cash flow of $3.1 billion (up 280%) [[1]](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260728962365/en/Seagate-Technology-Reports-Fiscal-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-2026-Financial-Results) [2]. On the balance sheet, Seagate paid down $300 million in debt during the quarter and plans to retire an additional $1.2 billion in the September quarter, bringing gross debt to $2.4 billion and net leverage to 0.4x. The company is accelerating share buybacks alongside the debt reduction [2]. ## AI and Data-Center Demand Data-center storage drove the quarter. The segment generated $2.93 billion in revenue — 81% of Seagate's total — with 195 exabytes shipped, up 43% year-over-year. Data centers now represent roughly 90% of Seagate's exabyte shipments [[2]](https://finance.biggo.com/news/US_STX_2026-07-28) [3]. Seagate's HAMR-based Mozaic platform, which uses heat-assisted magnetic recording to increase storage density, now accounts for 40% of nearline exabyte shipments. Mozaic 4+ drives supporting up to 44 terabytes per disk are ramping with the two largest global cloud service providers, and the company expects 50% of HAMR exabytes to be on the Mozaic 4 platform by year-end [2]. CEO Mosley raised Seagate's multi-year revenue growth target from low- to mid-teens to a minimum of 20%, citing structural AI-driven storage demand. He noted that customers are extending planning horizons into 2029 and that the vast majority of nearline capacity is already allocated into calendar 2028 [3]. ## Pricing Power and Margin Expansion CFO Gianluca Romano highlighted a widening supply-demand gap that is enabling stronger pricing. Price per unit of capacity rose approximately 10% year-over-year in the June quarter, with September-quarter guidance implying closer to 20% increases. Multi-year agreements lock in pricing through all of calendar 2027 [[2]](https://finance.biggo.com/news/US_STX_2026-07-28) [3]. Seagate's strategy centers on increasing areal density — the amount of data stored per disk — rather than expanding manufacturing capacity. Mosley described this as the "fastest and most capital-efficient" path to growth, with capital expenditure guidance set at 4-6% of revenue [4]. The approach supports margin expansion as higher-density drives command premium pricing without proportional cost increases. The September-quarter outlook calls for operating margins near 50% at midpoint, a level that, if achieved, would mark another sequential record for the company [3]. ## Market Reaction and Analyst View STX shares rallied as much as 9% in extended trading on Tuesday, rebounding from an 8.5% regular-session decline that brought the stock to $747.75. The after-hours move pushed shares above $810 [4]. Year-to-date, STX has gained approximately 170% . [[4]](https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-seagate-beats-q4-2026-forecasts-as-shares-rebound-after-hours-93CH-4818284)Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on Seagate with a $960 price target, representing roughly 28% upside. Analysts cited strong capital-expenditure trends from hyperscalers and tight HDD supply dynamics as key supports for the stock [3]. The results provide a data point for investors attempting to gauge the durability of AI-related infrastructure spending. While semiconductor names have faced selling pressure, Seagate's report suggests that the storage layer of the AI stack — driven by the explosion of training data, inference caching, and model checkpointing — continues to see accelerating demand [4]. ## Companies mentioned ## Further sources [[1] Seagate Technology Reports Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial… ↗](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260728962365/en/Seagate-Technology-Reports-Fiscal-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-2026-Financial-Results) [[2] Seagate Q4 FY26 Earnings Call Summary — BigGo Finance ↗](https://finance.biggo.com/news/US_STX_2026-07-28) [[3] STX Stock Rallies As Much As 9% After-Hours On Q4 Beat, Raised Guidance, And Lo… ↗](https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/stx-stock-rallies-as-much-as-9-after-hours-on-q4-beat-raised-guidance-and-locked-in-2028-demand/cZZ6Ph2RJbu) [[4] Earnings call transcript: Seagate beats Q4 2026 forecasts as shares rebound aft… ↗](https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-seagate-beats-q4-2026-forecasts-as-shares-rebound-after-hours-93CH-4818284) The stories that matter, in one email. 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