Seagate Technology Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

– Revenue of $2.7 billion

– GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.34; non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.41

CUPERTINO, CA – February 4, 2019 – Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) (the “Company” or “Seagate”) today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 28, 2018.

“In the December quarter, we executed well against a more challenging demand environment and delivered solid financial results reflecting strong operational efficiency. While there are market and geo-political uncertainties impacting the storage industry, our belief in the long-term growth of data creation and storage demand remains unchanged. By delivering competitive cost-effective mass storage solutions, Seagate enables the Data Age digital transformations for businesses across many industries. Our deep storage industry expertise and leading technology portfolio will continue to drive long-term success for the company and deliver value to our shareholders,” said Dave Mosley, Seagate’s chief executive officer.

Quarterly Financial Results

In the second quarter, the Company generated $288 million in cash flow from operations and $161 million in free cash flow. Year to date, the Company has generated $875 million in cash flow from operations and $571 million in free cash flow. Seagate’s balance sheet is healthy and during the second quarter, the Company paid cash dividends of $180 million, repurchased 3.2 million ordinary shares for $136 million and repaid $499 million of the 2018 Senior Notes. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.4 billion at the end of the quarter. There were 283 million ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of the end of the quarter.

For a detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results, see accompanying financial tables.

Seagate has issued a Supplemental Financial Information document, which is available on Seagate’s Investors Relations website at www.seagate.com/investors.

Quarterly Cash Dividend

The Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.63 per share, which will be payable on April 3, 2019 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 20, 2019. The payment of any future quarterly dividends will be at the discretion of the Board and will be dependent upon Seagate’s financial position, results of operations, available cash, cash flow, capital requirements and other factors deemed relevant by the Board.

Investor Communications

Seagate management will hold a public webcast today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time that can be accessed on its Investor Relations website at www.seagate.com/investors. During today’s webcast, the Company will provide an outlook for its third fiscal quarter of 2019, including key underlying assumptions.

An archived audio webcast of this event will be available on Seagate’s Investors Relations website at www.seagate.com/investors shortly following the event conclusion.

About Seagate

To learn more about the Company’s products and services, visit www.seagate.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Spiceworks, YouTube and subscribe to our blog. The contents of our website and social media channels are not a part of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, including, in particular, statements about the Company’s plans, strategies and prospects, financial projections, expectations regarding market demand and the Company’s products, shifts in technology, the Company’s ability to meet market and industry expectations and the effects of these future trends and expectations on the Company’s business and shareholder value and dividend issuance plans for the fiscal quarter ending March 29, 2019 and beyond. These statements identify prospective information and may include words such as “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “should,” “may,” “will,” or the negative of these words, variations of these words and comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this report and are based on management’s current views and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are conditioned upon and also involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors may be beyond the Company’s control and may pose a risk to the Company’s operating and financial condition. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: items that may be identified during its financial statement closing process that cause adjustments to the estimates included in this report; the uncertainty in global economic and political conditions; the impact of the variable demand and adverse pricing environment for storage products; the Company’s ability to successfully qualify, manufacture and sell its storage products in increasing volumes on a cost-effective basis and with acceptable quality; the impact of competitive product announcements; the Company’s ability to achieve projected cost savings in connection with restructuring plans and consolidation of manufacturing activities; possible excess industry supply with respect to particular storage products and competing alternative storage technology solutions; the impact of trade barriers, such as import/export duties and restrictions, tariffs and quotas, imposed by the U.S. or other countries in which the Company conducts business; disruptions to its supply chain or production capabilities; unexpected advances in competing technologies or changes in market trends; the development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; the Company’s ability to effectively manage its debt obligations and comply with certain covenants in its credit facilities with respect to financial ratios and financial condition tests; currency fluctuations that may impact the Company’s margins, international sales and results of operations; cyber-attacks or other data breaches that disrupt the Company’s operations or result in the dissemination of proprietary or confidential information and cause reputational harm; cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities associated with the Company’s infrastructure updates to its information technology systems; and fluctuations in interest rates. Information concerning risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from the expectations described in this press release is contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 3, 2018, the “Risk Factors” section of which is incorporated into this press release by reference, and other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any subsequent date and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by applicable law.

The inclusion of Seagate’s website address in this press release is intended to be an inactive textual reference only and not an active hyperlink. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, Seagate’s website and social media channels are not part of this press release.

Please click here to view the financial statements Q2 FY2019 Financial Statements.