Seagate reports loss of $496 million

Hard drive maker Seagate announced preliminary results for its fiscal second quarter 2009. The company says it shipped more than 37 million hard drives, it recorded sales of $2.3 billion but posted a net loss of $496 million, or $1.02 per share. In the same period a year earlier, the HDD maker reported a profit of $403 million and revenue of $3.42 billion.

According to MarketWatch, analysts expected Seagate to report a loss of 5 cents per share, on sales of $2.46 billion.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) today reported preliminary results for the quarter ended January 2, 2009 of 37 million disk drive unit shipments, revenue of $2.3 billion, a net loss of $496 million, and net loss per share of $1.02 for the quarter ended January 2, 2009. Net loss and net loss per share for the quarter include $18 million of purchased intangibles amortization and other charges associated with acquisitions, restructuring and related accelerated depreciation charges of $94 million, and a charge of $271 million that reflects an unfavorable adjustment to the valuation allowance related to the company’s deferred tax assets. The aggregate impact of these items is a $383 million loss or approximately $0.79 per share loss. Of the $94 million restructuring and related charges, $16 million was for accelerated depreciation charges recorded in cost of revenue ($2 million) and product development expense ($14 million) with the majority of the balance related to the recently disclosed global headcount reduction.

For the six months ended January 2, 2009 the company reported preliminary results of disk drive unit shipments of 85 million, revenue of $5.3 billion, a net loss of $436 million, and net loss per share of $0.90. Net loss and net loss per share include $37 million of purchased intangibles amortization and other charges associated with acquisitions, charges related to restructuring activities of $145 million, and a charge of $271 million that reflects an unfavorable adjustment to the valuation allowance related to the company’s deferred tax assets. The aggregate impact of these items is a $453 million reduction in earnings, or a decrease of approximately $0.93 per share. Of the $145 million in restructuring related charges, $44 million was for accelerated depreciation charges booked in cost of revenue ($30 million) and product development expense ($14 million) with the majority of the balance related to the previously disclosed global headcount reduction.

More details at Seagate.