Shares of Seagate Technology
How it got here
The hard-drive industry has been in disarray ever since the devastating Thailand floods last year, sending ripples throughout the tech industry as a staple PC component.
Seagate lucked out from the disaster, as its own manufacturing facilities weren't flooded, while rival Western Digital
Meanwhile, there has been consolidation afoot within the sector, with Seagate and Samsung hooking up their hard-drive parts and Western Digital and Hitachi doing likewise. It was on this stage that Seagate reported strong second-quarter earnings, which included rosy guidance as the company saw healthy demand ramping up.
No wonder it's up more than 65% year-to-date.
How it stacks up
Let's see how Seagate stacks up against some of its hard-drive competitors.
Let's add in some fundamental metrics for more insight.
|
Company |
P/E (TTM) |
Revenue Growth (5-Year Rate) |
Net Margin (TTM) |
ROE (TTM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seagate | 13.2 | 3.6% | 7.9% | 29.3% |
| Western Digital | 13.4 | 17.0% | 7.4% | 12.4% |
|
STEC |
18.6 | 7.4% | 8.2% | 7.9% |
|
Intel |
11.7 | 8.8% | 24.0% | 27.2% |
|
EMC |
26.2 | 12.4% | 13.0% | 13.5% |
Source: Reuters. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Western Digital is Seagate's closest competitor, although pure-play solid-state drive, or SSD, makers like STEC still present a competitive threat as the industry slowly migrates to flash technology. Intel similarly has its own branded SSD offerings, while EMC owns consumer-focused Iomega to complement its own storage array business.
What's next
The hard-drive industry has seen some dramatic shifts over the decades, and Seagate will need to adapt in order to remain a key player in the industry as SSDs take over.
Seagate is also on deck to report earnings tonight after the close, so we'll see if it can stay ahead of Western Digital a little while longer.
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