The quarterly figures of three major players in the storage market paint a mixed picture. Pure Storage impressed investors with strong results and raised expectations, while Nutanix and NetApp disappointed with their outlook and profit development.
Pure Storage reported revenue of $861 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, a 13 percent increase over a year earlier. Subscription revenue increased 15 percent to $415 million, and annual recurring revenue rose to $1.8 billion. CEO Charles Giancarlo said the results confirm that an increasing number of organizations are placing their trust in Pure’s platform strategy. He pointed out that many companies are still trapped in outdated silos, whereas Pure’s technology enables them to utilize data more flexibly. Investors appreciated the figures: the share price rose by more than 15 percent after trading hours, in addition to a 3 percent gain in regular trading.
Disappointing outlook at Nutanix
At Nutanix, the emphasis was on the disappointing outlook. For the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the company expects revenue of approximately $675 million, slightly below market expectations. The stock subsequently lost more than 4 percent after hours. Nevertheless, results for the final quarter of fiscal 2025 were better than predicted, with revenue up 19 percent to $653.3 million and earnings per share of 37 cents. CEO Rajiv Ramaswami spoke of a strong year-end and emphasized that more than 2,700 new customers were added, the highest number in four years. Analysts view the migration of VMware customers as a key growth factor.
NetApp profit decline
NetApp also exceeded expectations but recorded a decline in profits. Revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 was $1.56 billion, slightly more than a year earlier and just above the forecast. Earnings per share came in at $1.55 per share. However, net profit declined to $233 million, compared to $248 million the previous year. This resulted in a decline of nearly 7 percent in the share price. CEO George Kurian pointed to reduced demand from the public sector in the all-flash segment, where growth had fallen from 14 percent to 6 percent. For the current quarter, NetApp expects revenue to be between $1.62 billion and $1.77 billion, and earnings per share to be $1.84 to $1.94, both of which are just above market expectations.