Seagate Technology Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

CUPERTINO, CA – January 29, 2018 – Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) (the "Company" or "Seagate") today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 29, 2017. For the second quarter, the Company reported revenue of $2.9 billion, gross margin of 30.1%, net income of $159 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.55. On a non–GAAP basis, which excludes the net impact of certain items, Seagate reported gross margin of 30.4%, net income of $431 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.48.

During the second quarter, the Company generated $850 million in cash flow from operations and $773 million in free cash flow. Cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $2.6 billion at the end of the quarter. There were 285 million ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of the end of the quarter.

"Achieving year–over–year revenue and profitability growth and significant cash flow generation in the December quarter reflects Seagate's solid execution and competitiveness of our storage solutions portfolio, particularly in the cloud–based environments. With our leading storage technology platforms, manufacturing and supply–chain management capabilities, Seagate is in a strong position to support ever–increasing storage demand from diverse markets and applications. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on operational excellence and accomplishing our financial and shareholder–return objectives," said Dave Mosley, Seagate's chief executive officer.

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") has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.63 per share, which will be payable on April 4, 2018 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 21, 2018. 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 6:00 a.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 2018, 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
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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, estimates of industry growth, market demand, shifts in technology, its supply–chain management capabilities and dividend issuance plans for the fiscal quarter ending March 30, 2018 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 conditions; the impact of the variable demand and adverse pricing environment for disk drives; the Company's ability to successfully qualify, manufacture and sell its disk drive 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; possible excess industry supply with respect to particular disk drive products; 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 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 and international sales; 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; 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 on August 4, 2017, the "Risk Factors" section of which is incorporated into this press release by reference, and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.

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 FY2018 Financial Statements.