Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) (the “Company”) today reported financial results for the quarter ended December 28, 2012. During the fiscal second quarter, the Company reported revenue of approximately $3.7 billion, shipping 58 million units. On a GAAP basis, Seagate reported gross margin of 27.0%, net income of $492 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.30. On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes the net impact of certain items, Seagate reported gross margin of 27.6%, net income of $523 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.38. Cash flow from operations in the quarter was $844 million and the Company returned $1.1 billion to shareholders in dividends and share redemptions. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments totaled approximately $2.0 billion at the end of the fiscal second quarter.

“Seagate is executing well in an environment where customer demand forecasting is challenging,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Looking ahead, we will continue to manage our business conservatively to the demand environment, focus on profitability and effectively invest for market leadership in storage for mobility, cloud and open source. Creating value for shareholders remains a top priority, and in the first half of fiscal 2013, we returned over 95% of operating cash flows through share redemptions and dividends.”

For a detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results, see accompanying financial tables.

Seagate has issued a Supplemental Commentary document. The Supplemental Commentary will not be read during today's call, but rather it is available in the investors section of seagate.com.

Quarterly Cash Dividend

The Board of Directors approved an increase in our quarterly cash dividend to $0.38 per share which was paid on December 28, 2012, rather than in the March 2013 quarter. The payment of any future quarterly dividends will be at the discretion of the Board and will be dependent upon Seagate's financial position, results of operations, available cash, cash flow, capital requirements and other factors deemed relevant by the Board.

Investor Communications

Seagate management will hold a public webcast today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time that can be accessed on its Investor Relations website at www.seagate.com/investors. During today's webcast, the Company will provide an outlook for its third fiscal quarter of 2013 including key underlying assumptions.

Replay

A replay will be available beginning today at approximately 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time at www.seagate.com/investors.

About Seagate

Seagate is a world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, including, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies and prospects and estimates of industry growth for the fiscal quarter ending March 29, 2013 and beyond. These statements identify prospective information and include words such as “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this press release and are based on management's current views and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are conditioned upon and also involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors may be beyond the Company’s control and may pose a risk to the Company’s operating and financial condition. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the uncertainty in global economic conditions, as consumers and businesses may defer purchases in response to tighter credit and financial news; the impact of the variable demand and adverse pricing environment for disk drives, particularly in view of current business and economic conditions; dependence on the Company’s ability to successfully qualify, manufacture and sell its disk drive products in increasing volumes on a cost-effective basis and with acceptable quality, particularly the new disk drive products with lower cost structures; the impact of competitive product announcements; possible excess industry supply with respect to particular disk drive products; and the Company’s ability to achieve projected cost savings in connection with restructuring plans. Information concerning additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed with the SEC on August 8, 2012 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC on October 31, 2012, which statements are incorporated into this press release by reference. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any subsequent date and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made.

The information as of June 29, 2012 was derived from the Company’s audited Consolidated Balance Sheet as of June 29, 2012.

Use of non-GAAP financial information

To supplement the condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the Company provides non-GAAP measures of net income, diluted net income per share and gross margin as a percentage of revenue, which are adjusted from results based on GAAP to exclude certain expenses, gains and losses. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the user's overall understanding of the Company’s current financial performance and our prospects for the future. Specifically, the Company believes non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management and investors as these non-GAAP results exclude certain expenses, gains and losses that we believe are not indicative of our core operating results and because it is consistent with the financial models and estimates published by financial analysts who follow the Company.

These non-GAAP results are some of the primary measurements management uses to assess the Company’s performance, allocate resources and plan for future periods. Reported non-GAAP results should only be considered as supplemental to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, and not considered as a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results. These non-GAAP measures may differ from the non-GAAP measures reported by other companies in our industry.