What Happened?
Shares of data storage manufacturer Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) jumped 3.8% in the afternoon session after several analysts raised their price targets, citing strong demand for the company's new products and optimism ahead of its fiscal second-quarter report. The stock also reached a new all-time high.
A number of financial firms expressed a positive outlook, with BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Rosenblatt all increasing their price targets. The bullish sentiment was linked to the company's new 32TB hard disk drives (HDDs), which were designed for AI-driven video applications. Analysts pointed to strong demand for these new drives as a key reason for expecting Seagate to beat its revenue and earnings forecasts. Adding to the positive sentiment, BNP Paribas also upgraded the stock to outperform, noting that strong data center storage demand could lead to a longer-than-expected upcycle for the data storage company.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $359.07, up 3.7% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Seagate Technology’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 31 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 11 days ago when the stock gained 3.7% on the news that industry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, fueling optimism about sustained demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.
As the world's largest contract chipmaker, TSMC's performance is often seen as a key indicator for the entire tech industry. The company reported record fourth-quarter revenue, surpassing Wall Street estimates, driven by robust demand for advanced chips used in AI applications. This positive report has created a ripple effect across the sector, boosting shares of other semiconductor companies and equipment suppliers like ASML, Nvidia, and AMD. Investors are interpreting TSMC's success and its plans to increase capital spending as a strong signal that the AI-driven upcycle for semiconductors is resilient and likely to continue.
Seagate Technology is up 24.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $359.07 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Seagate Technology’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,536.
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