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STX Unveils 36TB Hard Drives Using HAMR-Based Mozaic 3+ Technology

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Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Free Report) has announced the shipment of Exos M hard drive samples to select customers, with capacities of up to 36 terabytes (TB). Using the innovative Mozaic 3+ platform, which features heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, these drives are designed to meet the massive storage needs of modern data centers.

STX highlighted that data storage is witnessing a major shift owing to exponential data growth spurred by cloud growth and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. Seagate stated the need for reliable long-term storage to ensure accurate, data-driven results and enable organizations to validate and adjust their applications effectively.

The company is scaling the production of Exos M drives with capacities of up to 32TB with a leading cloud service provider while also sampling drives with a capacity of up to 36TB on the Exos M platform. Powered by the HAMR-based Mozaic 3+ platform, Exos M provides data centers with substantial benefits, including 300% more storage capacity within the same footprint, 25% lower cost per terabyte and a 60% decrease in power consumption per terabyte, based on a 10TB to 30TB upgrade from Exos X10 to Exos M 30TB Mozaic drives, highlighted Seagate.

Exos M offers up to 36TB capacity with an extremely efficient 10-platter design. Seagate underscored that it can achieve 3.6TB per platter and is working to increase this capacity to 10TB per platter in the future.

STX’s Focus on HAMR Tech Bodes Well

Seagate expects HAMR to help exploit megatrends like AI and machine learning, which will drive long-term demand for cost-effective mass-capacity storage solutions. The company has been ramping up its 24TB CMR / 28TB SMR drives, and these now represent the second-highest revenue product, contributing more than 20% of total nearline revenues.

On the last earnings call, Seagate noted that adoption of Mozaic 3+ was gaining steam. The qualification with the lead CSP customer is progressing well, and it has expanded qualifications with several other cloud and enterprise customers in the current quarter. The company anticipates delivering capacity increases through further areal density gains for its Mozaic 4+ platform. This will lead to lower savings for its customers.

Additionally, higher demand for mass capacity storage solutions as well as expansion into solid state drive (SSD) storage space remain tailwinds. Management anticipates second-quarter fiscal 2025 revenues to be $2.3 billion (+/- $150 million). The company expects continued improvements in mass capacity owing to strengthening nearline demand from global cloud customers and improvement in the enterprise and OEM markets. The increase in mass capacity revenues is likely to offset lower revenues from legacy and other markets.

STX will report second-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings today after market close.

Seagate’s Zacks Rank & Stock Price Performance

STX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have soared 12.1% in the past year against the industry’s growth of 1.5%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC - Free Report) , NetApp, Inc. (NTAP - Free Report) and Intrusion Inc. (INTZ - Free Report) . IDCC presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas NTAP & INTZ carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for InterDigital’s 2024 earnings per share is pegged at $15.19, unchanged in the past 30 days. IDCC earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 163.7%. The company’s long-term earnings growth rate is 15%. Its shares have jumped 39.3% in the past six months.

NTAP’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 6.53%. In the last reported quarter, Intrusion delivered an earnings surprise of 4.47%. The company’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.2%. Its shares have surged 37.8% in the past year.

INTZ’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 43.06%. In the last reported quarter, Intrusion delivered an earnings surprise of 16.67%. Its shares have surged 75% in the past six months.

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