NetApp, Inc. NTAP reported strong fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results, with both top and bottom lines surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
The company’s performance highlights its ability to benefit from the accelerating adoption of enterprise AI and cloud technologies. With its differentiated hybrid cloud and intelligent data infrastructure platform, trusted by leading enterprises and cloud providers worldwide, NetApp is becoming increasingly central to customers’ data-driven AI transformation initiatives.
After the announcement, the company’s shares are up 17% in the pre-market trading session today. Shares of NTAP have gained 72.1% in the past six months compared with the Zacks Computer- Storage Devices industry's growth of 262.2%.
NTAP 6-Month Share Price Performance
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NTAP’s Net Income
Net income on a GAAP basis was $404 million or $2.03 per share compared with $340 million or $1.65 per share in the prior-year quarter. Strong revenue growth across Hybrid Cloud, Public Cloud and all-flash offerings boosted the bottom line during the quarter.
Non-GAAP net income in the reported quarter was $483 million or $2.43 per share compared with $397 million or $1.93 per share in the prior-year quarter.
The bottom line surpassed the consensus estimate by 16 cents and exceeded the company’s guided range of $2.21-$2.31.
Q1 Revenues
Net sales during the quarter increased to $1.95 billion from $1.73 billion in the year-ago quarter. The figure exceeded the guidance of $1.795-$1.945 billion.
The top line also beat the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion.
NTAP reports revenues under two segments: Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud.
The Hybrid Cloud segment includes revenues from the enterprise data center business, including product, support and professional services.
NetApp, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
NetApp, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | NetApp, Inc. Quote
The Public Cloud segment comprises revenues from products delivered as a service and related support. The portfolio contains cloud automation and optimization services, storage and cloud infrastructure monitoring services.
The Hybrid Cloud segment’s revenues increased to $1.77 billion from $1.57 billion in the prior-year quarter. The Public Cloud segment revenues increased to $182 million from $164 million in the prior-year quarter. Excluding the divested Spot business, Public Cloud revenues grew 18% year over year, driven by strong demand for first-party and marketplace storage services.
Product revenues (54.7% of segmental revenues) increased 14% year over year to $966 million, driven by the execution of a multiyear agreement with Google Cloud to deliver secure AI-ready data infrastructure for Google Distributed Cloud environments. Support revenues (39% of segmental revenues) rose 10% year over year to $688 million, partly driven by a one-time item. Professional and Other Services (6.3% of segmental revenues) climbed 14% year over year to $112 million, mainly driven by growth in Keystone, the company’s storage-as-a-service offering.
Region-wise, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific contributed 50%, 36% and 14% to total revenues, respectively.
Direct and indirect revenues added 25% and 75%, respectively, to total revenues.
Key Metrics
In the fourth quarter, the company’s All-Flash Array revenues increased 18% year over year to $1.2 billion. For fiscal 2026, all-flash revenues reached $4.2 billion, up 11% year over year.
Total billings rose 6.4% year over year to $2.16 billion. Deferred revenues and financed unearned services revenues totaled $4.85 billion, up 6.8%.
Remaining performance obligations were $5.65 billion.
Q1 Operating Details of NTAP
Non-GAAP gross margin of 70.5% was up 100 basis points from the prior-year quarter’s levels.
The Hybrid segment’s gross margin was 69% compared with 68.4% in the prior year. The
The Public Cloud segment witnessed a gross margin of 85.7%, up from 79.3%.
Non-GAAP operating expenses were $750 million, up from the year-ago quarter’s $707 million.
Non-GAAP operating income increased 26% year over year to a record $624 million.
Non-GAAP operating margin was 32%, up from 28.6%.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of April 24, 2026, the company had $3.58 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments and $2.49 billion in gross debt outstanding, resulting in a net cash position of approximately $1.1 billion.
Net cash from operations was $950 million compared with $675 million in the previous-year quarter.
Free cash flow was $900 million (free cash flow margin of 46.2%) compared with $640 million in the prior-year quarter (37%).
The company returned $303 million to its shareholders during the quarter through $200 million in share repurchases and $103 million in dividends. For fiscal 2026, NetApp returned $1.36 billion to its shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
NTAP also announced a cash dividend of 52 cents per share, payable on July 29, 2026, to its shareholders of record at the close of business on July 10.
Q1 & FY27 Outlook by NTAP
For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, the company expects net revenues to range between $1.750 billion and $1.900 billion. GAAP consolidated gross margins are projected to be between 68.1% and 69.1%, while non-GAAP consolidated gross margins are anticipated in the range of 69.1% to 70.1%. The company forecasts GAAP operating margins of 19.4% to 20.4% and non-GAAP operating margins of 28.4% to 29.4%. Earnings per share are expected to be between $1.35 and $1.45 on a GAAP basis, and between $2.05 and $2.15 on a non-GAAP basis.
For the full fiscal year 2027, NetApp projects net revenues in the range of $7.325 billion to $7.575 billion. GAAP consolidated gross margins are expected to be between 67.5% and 68.5%, while non-GAAP consolidated gross margins are forecast in the range of 68.5% to 69.5%. The company anticipates GAAP operating margins of 22.1% to 23.1% and non-GAAP operating margins of 29.1% to 30.1%. Full-year earnings per share are projected to range from $6.51 to $6.81 on a GAAP basis and from $8.70 to $9.00 on a non-GAAP basis.
NTAP’s Zacks Rank
NetApp currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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NetApp, Inc. (NTAP): Free Stock Analysis Report
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