NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

27 Feb 2026, 04:20 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP – Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The data storage provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. NetApp had a return on equity of 121.28% and a net margin of 17.73%.The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. NetApp updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 2.210-2.310 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance to 7.920-8.020 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from NetApp’s conference call:

Q3 revenue of $1.71 billion (up 4% YoY; 6% ex‑Spot) and record operating income with non‑GAAP EPS of $2.12, reflecting strong execution and operational discipline.
Early momentum in AI: AFX began shipments with notable wins (neoclouds, financial services, semiconductor) and the AI Data Engine engaged ~300 customers, with AIDE slated for general availability in Q4.
All‑Flash Array revenue hit a record $1.0 billion (up 11% YoY) while Keystone (storage‑as‑a‑service) grew ~65% YoY and public cloud services (ex‑Spot) rose 17% YoY with very high gross margins.
Rising memory/NAND prices are pressuring product gross margins; NetApp has raised prices, may raise again, and noted mix‑ and market‑purchase impacts that weighed on product margin sequentially.
Guidance: Q4 revenue of $1.87 billion ±$75M (midpoint +8% YoY) and FY26 revenue midpoint $6.847 billion (+4% YoY) with gross margin guidance around 70–71% and FY EPS of $7.92–$8.02.

NetApp Stock Down 2.7%

NetApp stock traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $99.14. The company had a trading volume of 3,815,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,313,401. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $103.40 and its 200-day moving average is $111.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.38. NetApp has a fifty-two week low of $71.84 and a fifty-two week high of $126.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Key NetApp News

Here are the key news stories impacting NetApp this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat and official materials: NetApp posted EPS of $2.12 vs. the consensus ~$2.07 and revenue ~$1.71B, narrowly ahead of estimates; the company filed the press release and slide deck with details. This is the immediate fundamental driver behind upside in expectations. View Press Release
Positive Sentiment: Raised FY‑2026 and Q4 guidance: NetApp lifted FY EPS to $7.920–8.020 (consensus ~7.29) and issued Q4 EPS $2.21–2.31 (vs. ~2.08 est), with revenue bands modestly above/inline — a clear beat-and-raise signal for the year. View Slide Deck
Neutral Sentiment: Contextual metrics and analyst notes: Zacks and other coverage break down key Q3 metrics vs. estimates and year-ago figures — useful for modeling but not market-moving by itself. Compared to Estimates, NetApp (NTAP) Q3 Earnings
Neutral Sentiment: Strategic angle — AI-focused cloud subscriptions: Coverage is questioning whether NetApp’s pivot toward AI-focused cloud/subscriptions changes the investment case; this is strategic upside but with timing and margin conversion uncertainty. Is NetApp’s Shift Toward AI-Focused Cloud Subscriptions Altering The Investment Case For NetApp (NTAP)?
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst tone mixed but not bearish: Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating with a $115 target (implies upside from current levels) and argued some pre-earnings pessimism was overdone — supports buy-side patience but not a strong catalyst. Wedbush neutral rating / commentary
Negative Sentiment: Competitive/sector pressure: Comparative pieces highlight Seagate (STX) as capturing stronger AI-driven demand and momentum — an investor concern that NetApp may face tougher competitive and growth comparisons in storage/AI hardware spending cycles. Seagate vs. NetApp

Insider Activity at NetApp

In other news, EVP Elizabeth M. O’callahan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.45, for a total value of $103,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,758.75. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NTAP. Compound Planning Inc. increased its position in NetApp by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 5,842 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of NetApp by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,170,157 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $339,492,000 after buying an additional 154,490 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in NetApp by 169.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 129,925 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $13,914,000 after buying an additional 81,634 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in NetApp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 46,106 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $4,938,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in NetApp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,824,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NTAP. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on NetApp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on NetApp from $125.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of NetApp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Northland Securities set a $137.00 target price on shares of NetApp and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of NetApp from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.21.

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About NetApp

(Get Free Report)

NetApp, Inc (NASDAQ: NTAP) is a data management and storage company that delivers hybrid cloud data services for applications and data. Founded in 1992 as Network Appliance and rebranded as NetApp in 2008, the company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. NetApp’s offering focuses on enabling organizations to store, manage, protect and move data across on-premises environments and major public clouds.

The company’s product portfolio centers on the ONTAP data management software and a range of storage systems and services built around it.