4:53PM Seagate Tech reports selected preliminary  Q4 results: expects revenues of $4.5 bln (vs $4.87 bln Capital IQ  Consensus Estimate) and non-GAAP gross margin of 33.6% (STX) 25.08 -0.05  : Co announced selected preliminary financial results for its fourth  fiscal quarter of 2012, which ended on June 29, 2012. Seagate expects to  report record revenue of approximately $4.5 billion (vs $4.87 bln  Capital IQ Consensus Estimate) and non-GAAP gross margin of 33.6%. These  preliminary results compare to the Company's previous expectations for  revenue of at least $5 billion and non-GAAP gross margin of at least  34.5%. Seagate expects to report record unit shipments for the June  quarter of approximately 66 million, reflecting approximately 45  exabytes of storage capacity and maintaining approximately 42% market  share. During the quarter the company paid $1.2 billion to redeem over  45 million ordinary shares and exited June with 396 million basic shares  outstanding. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short term  investments totaled $2.2 billion at the end of the June quarter.
  "Seagate  expects to report another record quarter of revenue in the June  quarter, however we did not meet our expected revenue and margin plan,"  said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman and chief executive officer. "The  June quarter's shortfall was due primarily to two factors. First, we did  not achieve our planned market share growth as we reduced shipments in  response to the industry's faster than expected recovery from their  supply chain disruption. Second, we experienced an isolated supplier  quality issue that affected one of our enterprise product lines. This  product issue impacted enterprise product unit shipments by  approximately 1.5 million units and drove our non-GAAP gross margin  below our targeted plan. While this disruption to our business was  disappointing, we acted quickly and conservatively by suspending  shipments of the affected products. We have resolved the issue and have  resumed fulfilling our supply commitments to customers." Luczo  continued, "Based on the macro-economic concerns indicated by a broad  base of customers, we are approaching the September quarter  conservatively and aligning our business for a relatively flat  addressable market and modest improvements in our product mix. We are  adjusting our production and inventory planning accordingly, and we  expect average selling prices and margins to remain relatively stable in  the September quarter. We also continue to expect to exit the calendar  year with non-GAAP gross margins exceeding 30%." |