NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) reported its Q3 results and lighter-than-expected Q4 outlook on Wednesday.
Q3 EPS came in at $1.37, better than the Street estimate of $1.31, while revenue was $1.53 billion, missing the Street estimate of $1.61 billion. The company expects Q4/23 EPS to be in the range of $1.30-$1.40, compared to the Street estimate of $1.43. For the full year, they expect EPS in the range of $5.30-$5.50, compared to the Street estimate of $5.41.
Looking beyond Q4, analysts at Deutsche Bank expect demand weakness to persist, but are encouraged that there could be multiple gross margin tailwinds (FX, component premiums, NAND costs and product mix) in 2024, and believe OPEX will be in check given the recent headcount reduction.
Post results, the analysts lowered their 2023 EPS estimate from $5.60 to $5.40, but maintained 2024 EPS at $6.00. However, they lowered the price target from $74 to $70 as they await the company’s key growth driver (i.e. public cloud service) to resume growth.