Along with the headline revenue of $US 2.73 billion for the quarter, Seagate reported $US 378m in cash flow from operations, $US 274m in free cash flow, and a declared cash dividend of $US 0.67 per share. Shareholders received $US 912m through dividends and the repurchase of 11.3 million ordinary shares. Cash and cash equivalents totalled $1.2 billion at the end of the quarter. There were 230 million ordinary shares issued and outstanding as of the end of the quarter.

"Seagate delivered another quarter of strong financial performance driven by ongoing operational execution and record sales of our high capacity nearline drives. We grew revenue, expanded profitability and achieved non-GAAP EPS above our guided range. Our March quarter results underscore the strength of our HDD product portfolio and increasing demand for mass capacity storage," said Dave Mosley, Seagate’s chief executive officer.

"These trends lend further support to our June outlook, including an anticipated return to solid year-over-year revenue growth in the June quarter and enhanced profitability. As the datasphere continues to grow in scale and complexity, our innovative technology, flexible product roadmap and mass data expertise make us well-positioned to capture significant opportunities in our core HDD business and address customers’ emerging needs to move, secure and store data across a more distributed enterprise."

More details including financial tables are online.

The quarterly cash dividend of $US 0.67 per share will be payable on July 7 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 12.

Seagate provided guidance for the fourth quarter, expecting revenue of $US 2.85b with a variation up to $US 150m, and a non-GAAP diluted EPS of $US 1.60, with a variation up to $US 0.15.