Seagate (STX) Stock Jumps 7% as Morgan Stanley Hikes Target to $1,035

TLDR

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on STX to $1,035 from $767, maintaining an Overweight rating
• STX reported Q3 EPS of $4.10, beating estimates by $0.59, with revenue of $3.11 billion, up 44.1% year-over-year
• Multiple analysts have raised price targets, with JPMorgan at $920 and Barclays at $1,000
• Seagate raised its Q4 2026 EPS guidance to $4.80–$5.20 and lifted its long-term annual revenue growth target to at least 20%
• Nearline storage capacity is largely allocated through 2027, driven by cloud and AI data center demand

Seagate Technology (STX) opened at $931.04 on Monday, up 7.25%, as a wave of analyst upgrades and strong earnings results continued to push the stock higher. The stock has surged from a 52-week low of $124.63 to a high of $966.80.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc, STX

Morgan Stanley moved its price target to $1,035 — up from $767 — while keeping its Overweight rating. That follows a series of upgrades from other major firms in recent weeks.

JPMorgan raised its target from $775 to $920, also maintaining Overweight. Barclays went to $1,000 from $750, and TD Cowen lifted its target to $850 from $500. China Renaissance set a target of $983. The consensus rating across 25 analysts sits at Moderate Buy, with an average target of $820.63.

The bullish sentiment follows Seagate’s Q3 earnings report on April 28. The company posted EPS of $4.10, well ahead of the $3.51 consensus. Revenue came in at $3.11 billion, topping estimates of $2.96 billion and representing a 44.1% jump from the same quarter last year.

For context, Seagate earned $1.90 EPS in the same quarter a year ago — that’s more than doubled in 12 months.

Guidance and Growth Outlook

For Q4 2026, Seagate guided EPS of $4.80 to $5.20. Analysts collectively expect full-year EPS of $14.14. The company also raised its long-term annual revenue growth target to at least 20%.

Seagate said most of its nearline storage capacity is already allocated through 2027, driven by demand from large cloud customers and AI data centers. Free cash flow has also been climbing, which analysts have flagged as a positive signal.

The company recently announced it will redeem all outstanding 3.50% Exchangeable Senior Notes due 2028 — a balance-sheet move that investors have taken well.

A quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share is set for July 7, with a record date of June 24. That puts the annualized dividend at $2.96, or a yield of around 0.3%.

Insider Activity and Institutional Holdings

Two EVPs sold stock on June 10 under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans. John Morris sold 574 shares at $821.66, and Ban Seng Teh sold 663 at $821.86. Insiders have sold roughly $112.7 million worth of stock over the past 90 days, though insiders own just 0.79% of the company overall.

Institutional investors hold 92.87% of STX. Vanguard owns 28.1 million shares valued at $6.64 billion. State Street, Morgan Stanley, Geode Capital, and Arrowstreet all added to their positions in Q4.

Entropy Technologies cut its position by 48.8% in Q4, though it still held a stake valued at around $5.16 million at quarter-end.

STX’s 50-day moving average stands at $709.54, while its 200-day average is $477.38 — both well below where the stock is trading today.

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