Seagate's Strategy for Returning Value to Shareholders Reflects Confidence in Business
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Dec 16 2025
0mins
Should l Buy WDC?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
Seagate's Focus on Shareholder Returns: Seagate Technology is prioritizing shareholder returns in fiscal 2026, having resumed share repurchases and increased its quarterly dividend by 3% to 74 cents per share, while committing to return at least 75% of free cash flow to shareholders.
Strong Financial Performance: The company reported a record non-GAAP gross margin of 40.1% and cash flow from operations of $532 million, with expectations for stronger free cash flow generation in the upcoming quarter.
Competitive Landscape: Competitors like Western Digital and NetApp are also focusing on shareholder returns, with Western Digital repurchasing shares and increasing dividends, while NetApp returned $353 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
Market Position and Growth Potential: Seagate's stock has gained 9.3% recently, and its earnings estimate for fiscal 2026 has been revised up by 7%, reflecting strong market confidence and positioning for future profitability and cash flow growth.
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Analyst Views on WDC
Wall Street analysts forecast WDC stock price to fall
19 Analyst Rating
15 Buy
4 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 286.210
Low
135.00
Averages
189.74
High
250.00
Current: 286.210
Low
135.00
Averages
189.74
High
250.00
About WDC
Western Digital Corporation is a developer, manufacturer and provider of data storage devices and solutions. It delivers hard disk drives (HDD) solutions for everyone from students, gamers, and home offices to enterprises and public clouds. The Company manufactures, markets, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States and in foreign countries through its sales personnel, dealers, distributors, retailers, and subsidiaries. Its portfolio of technology and products addresses multiple end markets: Cloud, Client, and Consumer. Cloud is comprised primarily of products for public or private cloud environments and end customers. Through the Client end market, it provides its original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and channel customers a range of hard drive solutions across personal computer, mobile, gaming, automotive, virtual reality headsets, at-home entertainment, and industrial spaces. The Consumer end market offers a range of retail and other end-user products.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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