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NetApp's Q1 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates, Stock Falls

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NetApp, Inc. (NTAP - Free Report) reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 non-GAAP earnings of $1.56 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.9%. The company reported earnings of $1.15 per share in the prior year period. The bottom line surpassed the company’s guided range of $1.4–$1.5.

Revenues of $1.54 billion increased 8% year over year. NTAP projected revenues in the range of $1.455–$1.605 billion. The upside resulted from strong sales across Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud segments, notably a growth of about 40% in first party and marketplace cloud storage services revenue. However, it remains wary about the challenging macroeconomic backdrop that is hurting IT spending. Also, the top line beat the consensus mark by 0.46%.

Witnessing the continued momentum across flash, block, AI and cloud storage solutions, management has tweaked its outlook for fiscal 2025. It now expects full-year revenues in the range of $6.48–$6.68 billion, up 5% year over year at the mid-point. Earlier it projected sales in the band of $6.45–$6.65 billion.

The company now forecasts non-GAAP earnings per share for fiscal 2025 to be between $7 and $7.2, up 10% year over year at the mid-point. Earlier, it projected non-GAAP earnings between $6.8 and $7 per share.

For fiscal 2025, NetApp continues to expect non-GAAP gross margin in the range of 71-72%. Non-GAAP operating margin is projected in the band of 27-28%, unchanged from the prior view.

NetApp, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

NetApp, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

NetApp, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | NetApp, Inc. Quote

Following the announcement, NTAP shares were down 2.7% in the pre-market trading on Aug. 28. In the past year, shares have gained 72.6% compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 57.9%.

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NTAP’s Top-Line Details

NTAP reports revenues under two segments — Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud.

The Hybrid Cloud segment includes revenues from the enterprise data center business, including product, support and professional services.

The Public Cloud segment comprises revenues from products delivered as a service and related supports. The portfolio contains cloud automation and optimization services, storage and cloud infrastructure monitoring services.

Revenues from the Hybrid Cloud segment increased 7.8% year over year to $1.38 billion. The Public Cloud segment’s revenues improved 3.2% to $159 million.

We projected fiscal first-quarter revenues from the Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud segments at $1,368 million and $161.1 million, respectively.

Within the Hybrid Cloud segment, Product revenues (48.4% of segmental revenues) increased 13.4% year over year to $669 million.

Revenues from Support Contracts (45.6%) totaled $631 million, up 3.3% year over year. Professional and Other Services revenues (6%) amounted to $82 million, up 6.5%.

Region-wise, the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific contributed 50%, 33% and 17% to total revenues, respectively.

Direct and indirect revenues added 22% and 78%, respectively, to total revenues.

Key Metrics

During the fiscal first quarter, the company’s All-Flash Array Business’s annualized net revenue run rate was $3.4 billion, up 21% year over year. Total billings rose 12% year over year to $1.45 billion. Deferred revenues totaled $4.2 billion.

Operating Details

Non-GAAP gross margin of 72.2% expanded 160 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter’s levels.

The Hybrid segment’s gross margin was 72.4% compared with 71.4% in the prior year. The Public Cloud segment witnessed a gross margin of 71.1%, up from 66.9%.

Non-GAAP operating expenses were $714 million compared with $703 million in the previous quarter. 

Non-GAAP operating income rose 29% year over year to $399 million. Non-GAAP operating margin came in at 25.9% up from the prior year's figure of 21.6%.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

NetApp exited the quarter ended July 26, 2024, with $3.02 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments compared with $3.3 billion as of April 26. 

Long-term debt was $1.244 billion compared with $2.39 billion in the prior year.

Net cash from operations was $341 million compared with $453 million in the previous year's quarter.

Free cash flow was $300 million (free cash flow margin of 19.5%) compared with $418 million in the prior quarter (29.2%).

The company returned $507 million to shareholders as dividend payouts and share repurchases in the fiscal first quarter. It has $1 billion worth of shares remaining under its existing authorization.

NTAP also announced a dividend of 52 cents payable on Oct. 23 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Oct. 4.

Q2 2025 Guidance

Management projects non-GAAP earnings per share to be between $1.73 and $1.83. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.69.

Net revenues are anticipated in the range of $1.565-$1.715 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.616 billion.

NTAP’s Zacks Rank

NetApp currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Performance of Other Companies

BlackBerry’s (BB - Free Report) first-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted loss per share of 3 cents was narrower than the company’s estimate of a loss of 4-6 cents. In the year-ago quarter, it reported non-GAAP earnings of 6 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at a loss of 4 cents per share. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of BB have lost 57% in the past year. 

Badger Meter, Inc (BMI - Free Report) reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.12 for second-quarter 2024, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.3%. Also, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s EPS of 76 cents.

Shares of BMI have gained 23% in the past year. 

SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 non-IFRS earnings of €1.10 ($1.18) per share, climbing 59% from the year-ago quarter’s levels. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $1.01.

In the past year, shares of SAP have gained 54.9%. 

 


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