Shares of hard-drive giant Seagate Technology
Seagate matched its own revenue guidance with $4.5 billion in sales, but analysts were looking for $4.6 billion. The real damage flows from the bottom line, where non-GAAP earnings of $2.41 per share missed Street estimates by $0.10.
The culprit, ironically, was the hard drive industry's surprisingly quick recovery from last year's flooding disaster in Thailand. That event allowed Seagate and arch rival Western Digital
Still, CEO Steve Luczo talked about the "benign environment we have." Western Digital's report from last Friday underscores the health of the traditional drive market, though Luczo reminded analysts that we'll all get more clarity into the market for PC systems when Hewlett-Packard
Looking ahead, Seagate is making moves in solid-state storage in order to stay relevant for the long term. The company now has a brand-new general manager for SSD products, who was recruited from Micron Technology's
So the earnings miss might scare jumpy traders, but Seagate's long-term future looks solid (pun intended). My bullish CAPScall on this stock remains firmly in place. Short of starting a real-money position, that's just about the highest compliment a Fool can pay to any stock.
Also, to learn a bit more about a revolution these hard-drive makers are supporting, be sure to check out our special free report: "The Only Stock You Need to Profit From the NEW Technology Revolution."