In today’s technology-driven world, the rise of smart city initiatives and IoT-enabled infrastructure has significantly increased the demand for advanced hardware. This trend has fueled growth in hardware segments like SSDs, NAS, servers, and the chip industry.

As the sector continues to innovate, investors might consider fundamentally strong tech hardware stocks such as NetApp, Inc. (NTAP - Get Rating), Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Get Rating), and Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (SIMO - Get Rating), which offer promising prospects.

Ever-evolving hardware innovations are driving a surge in digital capabilities while advancing sustainable manufacturing practices, resonating with eco-conscious consumers. Meanwhile, increasing investments in hardware research and development make this sector both dynamic and lucrative. Hence, Gartner forecasts worldwide device spending to rise by 9.5% in 2025, reaching $805.72 billion.

Simultaneously, the rising demand for advanced hardware to support robotics, cloud, and edge computing continues to fuel growth in the tech hardware sector. As a result, the global IT hardware market is projected to reach $141.15 billion this year, growing at a CAGR of 7.9%. Similarly, the global semiconductor market is expected to expand by 15% in 2025, further solidifying the tech hardware sector’s growth trajectory.

Considering these conducive trends, let’s assess the fundamentals of the abovementioned tech hardware stocks.

NetApp, Inc. (NTAP - Get Rating)

NTAP provides cloud-led and data-centric services to manage and share data on-premises and private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments: Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud. The company offers intelligent data management software and storage infrastructure solutions.

On December 1, 2024, NTAP announced the integration of its on-premises enterprise storage arrays with AWS Outposts, simplifying hybrid cloud deployments by enabling external block data volumes management via the AWS Management Console. The solution enhances resiliency, compliance, and infrastructure optimization for customers running enterprise applications and databases on Outposts.

On November 11, 2024, NTAP announced an expanded collaboration with Red Hat to enhance enterprise application development and management in virtual environments. This partnership integrates NTAP’s intelligent data infrastructure with Red Hat OpenShift, offering customers improved flexibility and performance for managing virtualized environments and Kubernetes containerized workloads.

In terms of the trailing-12-month Return on Total Capital, NTAP’s 26.75% is 753% higher than the 3.14% industry average. Similarly, its 12.78% trailing-12-month Return on Total Assets is 546.3% higher than the industry average of 1.98%. Its 0.72x trailing-12-month asset turnover ratio is 14.8% higher than the industry average of 0.62x.

For the fiscal second quarter, which ended October 25, 2024, NTAP’s net revenue increased 6.1% year-over-year to $1.66 billion. Its non-GAAP gross profit rose 6% from the year-ago value to $1.18 billion.

NTAP’s non-GAAP income from operations grew 13.4% year-over-year to $475 million. In addition, the company’s non-GAAP net income came in at $493 million or $1.87 per share, increases of 16% and 18.4% year-over-year, respectively.

Street expects NTAP’s revenue for the quarter ending January 31, 2025, to increase 5.3% year-over-year to $1.63 billion. Its EPS for the quarter ending April 30, 2025, is expected to rise 10.4% year-over-year to $1.99. It surpassed the EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. Over the past year, the stock has gained 39.6% to close the last trading session at $119.98.

NTAP’s POWR Ratings reflect robust prospects. It has an overall rating of B, which translates to a Strong Buy in our proprietary rating system. The POWR Ratings assess stocks by 118 different factors, each with its own weighting.

It is ranked #19 out of 41 stocks in the Technology – Hardware industry. It has an A grade for Quality and a B for Momentum. Click here to see NTAP’s Growth, Value, Stability, and Sentiment ratings.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX - Get Rating)

Based in Singapore, STX is engaged in providing data storage technology and infrastructure solutions globally. The company offers mass capacity storage products, including enterprise nearline HDDs, enterprise nearline SSDs, enterprise nearline systems, video and image HDDs, and network-attached storage drives.

In terms of the trailing-12-month asset turnover ratio, STX’s 0.96x is 53.6% higher than the 0.62x industry average. Likewise, the stock’s 14.37% trailing-12-month Return on Total Capital is 358.3% higher than the 3.14% industry average. Also, its 10.34% trailing-12-month Return on Total Assets is 422.6% higher than the industry average of 1.98%.

STX’s revenues for the fiscal first quarter ending September 27, 2024, increased 49.1% from the previous year, reaching $2.17 billion. Similarly, its non-GAAP operating income was $403 million, compared to a non-GAAP operating loss of $129 million.

For the same quarter, its non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS stood at $337 million and $1.58, respectively, compared to a non-GAAP net loss and loss per share of $46 million and $0.22.

For the quarter ended December 30, 2024, STX’s revenue is expected to increase 49.1% year-over-year to $2.32 billion. Its EPS for the same quarter is expected to grow considerably year-over-year to $1.88. STX surpassed the consensus EPS estimates in three of the trailing four quarters. Over the past nine months, the stock has gained 15.6% to close the last trading session at $96.22.

STX’s strong fundamentals are reflected in its POWR Ratings. It has an A grade for Growth and a B for Momentum and Quality. Within the Technology – Hardware industry, it is ranked #22. To access the additional POWR Ratings of STX for Value, Stability, and Sentiment, click here.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (SIMO - Get Rating)

Based in Hong Kong, SIMO and its subsidiaries design, develop, and market NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices internationally. The company offers controllers for computing-grade SSDs, enterprise-grade SSDs, eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage, flash memory cards and flash drives, and specialized SSDs.

On November 8, 2024, SIMO announced its collaboration with TOP-electronics to expand its market presence across the EMEA region. The partnership focuses on delivering Ferri embedded storage and display interface solutions for AI, AIoT, embedded, and automotive applications.

In terms of the trailing-12-month net income margin, SIMO’s 10.90% is 186.5% higher than the 3.80% industry average. Its 10.97% trailing-12-month EBIT margin is 105.1% higher than the industry average of 5.35%. Moreover, its 0.81x trailing-12-month asset turnover ratio is 29.6% higher than the industry average of 0.62x.

In the fiscal third quarter that ended September 30, 2024, SIMO’s net sales stood at $212.41 million, up 23.3% year-over-year, and non-GAAP gross profit rose 35.5% year-over-year to $99.33 million. For the same quarter, its non-GAAP net income and earnings per ADS increased 47.3% and 46% over the prior-year quarter to $31.02 million and $0.92, respectively.

Analysts expect SIMO’s EPS for the quarter ending March 31, 2025, to increase 7% year-over-year to $0.69. Its revenue for fiscal 2024 is expected to increase 25.7% year-over-year to $803.40 million. It surpassed the Street EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. Over the past three months, the stock has gained 8.2% to close the last trading session at $51.71.

SIMO’s positive outlook is reflected in its POWR Ratings. It has an overall rating of A, equating to a Strong Buy in our proprietary rating system.

It is ranked #6 out of 90 stocks in the Semiconductor & Wireless Chip industry. It has an A grade for Value. To see SIMO’s Growth, Momentum, Stability, Sentiment, and Quality, click here.

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NTAP shares were unchanged in after-hours trading Friday. Year-to-date, NTAP has gained 5.65%, versus a 1.96% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

About the Author: Abhishek Bhuyan

Abhishek embarked on his professional journey as a financial journalist due to his keen interest in discerning the fundamental factors that influence the future performance of financial instruments. More...

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