Seagate Technology Reports Fiscal First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX) (the “Company” or “Seagate”) today reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 ended October 3, 2014. For the first quarter, the Company reported revenue of approximately $3.8 billion, gross margin of 27.8%, net income of $381 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.13. On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes the net impact of certain items, Seagate reported gross margin of 28.1%, net income of $453 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.34. For a detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results, see accompanying financial tables.

During the first quarter, the Company generated approximately $602 million in operating cash flow, paid cash dividends of $140 million and repurchased approximately 3 million ordinary shares for $183 million. There were 327 million ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of the end of the quarter. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments totaled approximately $2.2 billion at the end of the quarter.

“We achieved strong financial results in the first fiscal quarter, driven by consistent execution and better-than-anticipated market demand for our PC and Cloud storage products,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We continue to improve our position in the evolving storage market by leveraging and investing in our core storage technology and expanding our product portfolio with Cloud systems and solutions and integrated flash technology. We remain confident in our cash flow generation and the opportunities ahead for Seagate as evidenced by our recently announced target annual dividend increase of 26% to $2.16.”

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

Quarterly Cash Dividend

As previously disclosed on October 22, 2014, the Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.54 per share, which will be payable on November 25, 2014 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 11, 2014. 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 Investors website at www.seagate.com/investors. During today's webcast, the Company will provide an outlook for its second fiscal quarter of 2015 including key underlying assumptions.

Replay

A replay will be available beginning today at approximately 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time at www.seagate.com/investors.

About Seagate

Seagate is a world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.

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 our plans, strategies and prospects and estimates of industry growth for the fiscal quarter ending January 2, 2015 and beyond as well as our plans with respect to future dividend payments. These statements identify prospective information and may include words such as “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this press release 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: the uncertainty in global economic conditions, as consumers and businesses may defer purchases in response to tighter credit and financial news; the impact of the variable demand and adverse pricing environment for disk drives, particularly in view of current business and economic conditions; 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, particularly the new disk drive products with lower cost structures; the impact of competitive product announcements; possible excess industry supply with respect to particular disk drive products; the Company’s ability to achieve projected cost savings in connection with restructuring plans 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 7, 2014, 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 is not part of this press release.

(a) The information as of June 27, 2014 was derived from the Company’s audited Consolidated Balance Sheet as of June 27, 2014.

Use of non-GAAP financial information

To supplement the condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the Company provides non-GAAP measures of net income, diluted net income per share, gross margin, gross margin as a percentage of revenue, operating margin, operating expenses, and operating income which are adjusted from results based on GAAP to exclude certain expenses, gains and losses. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the user's overall understanding of the Company’s current financial performance and our prospects for the future. Specifically, the Company believes non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management and investors as these non-GAAP results exclude certain expenses, gains and losses that we believe are not indicative of our core operating results and because it is consistent with the financial models and estimates published by financial analysts who follow the Company.

These non-GAAP results are some of the primary measurements management uses to assess the Company’s performance, allocate resources and plan for future periods. Reported non-GAAP results should only be considered as supplemental to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and not considered as a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results. These non-GAAP measures may differ from the non-GAAP measures reported by other companies in our industry.