Seagate 1Q Profit Triples On Lower Operating Costs

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Seagate Technology said Tuesday that fiscal first-quarter net income more than tripled, as low costs more than offset a drop in revenue as well as restructuring and other charges.

The company, a maker of computer hard disk drives for data storage, earned $179 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with $57 million, or 12 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Earnings included about $120 million in restructuring charges, asset write-downs and amortization of intangible assets. That translates to 23 cents per share. Seagate had $37 million in non-operating charges in last year's quarter.

But Seagate shaved nearly $600 million in operating costs, leading to a higher profit.

Revenue fell to $2.66 billion from $3.03 billion.

Seagate's performance beat the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who were expecting 47 cents per share in earnings on revenue of $2.62 billion.

Looking ahead, Seagate said it expects to post second-quarter revenue of $2.75 billion to $2.85 billion. Analysts were forecasting $2.75 billion.

Shares of Seagate fell 15 cents to $15.42 in after-hours trading. The stock close at $15.55 on Tuesday, unchanged.