The hard-drive maker’s revenue for the third fiscal quarter, which ended in March, came to $2.8 billion, while net income and earnings per share, respectively, came to $212 million and 37 cents a share. Excluding expenses associated with the acquisition of Maxtor, net income came to $274 million and 47 cents in earnings per share.
The company expected revenue to come in around $2.9 billion to $3 billion, Seagate CEO Bill Watkins said in an interview, and profits were expected to be higher. “Profit was down quite a bit. As we got into March, demand slowed down, and it wasn’t as big as expected,” he said. “Our sense is that it is more of a short-term fluctuation.” But it’s been a dismal earnings season so far for a lot of companies in the tech world. Advanced Micro Devices earlier this month said revenue and profits would be below expectations for the quarter just ended because of declining prices and slow shipments. AMD will report its earnings later this week. Yahoo on Tuesday missed its financial projections, and Samsung said income dropped 15 percent and price pressure would continue during the year.
Shipments of notebook drives were up, but price cuts modulated some of the gains there. Seagate also saw increased business in the consumer market, in part because it makes the hard drives for the Sony PlayStation 3.
Source: CNET News.com