NetApp, Inc. vs Seagate Technology Holdings plc, two Computer Hardware stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
The margin gap is smaller than the business gap: Seagate's 32.1% operating margin at drive-cycle peak against NetApp's 27.3% earned in the ordinary course of storage software and systems. Both returns on equity are artifacts of shrunken denominators, Seagate's 217% on 3.5 turns of leverage, NetApp's 94% on 1.84; the returns on assets, 26.7% and 11.9%, are the honest ranking and currently favor the cyclical. The multiples say what the market believes about permanence: 85.1 times Seagate's peak earnings, 24 times NetApp's steady ones. NetApp pays back 6.1% of its price in free cash; Seagate 1.2%. Same racks, different physics, and the market paying triple per dollar for the earnings it trusts less to repeat.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | NTAP | STX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $152.40 | $896.74 |
| Market cap | $30.5B | $205.4B |
| Sector | Computer Hardware | Computer Hardware |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +17.3% | — |
| P/E | 24.0 | 85.1 |
| P/B | 22.56 | 187.54 |
| P/S | 4.40 | 18.65 |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.0 | 65.5 |
| Revenue growth | +5.2% | +29.1% |
| Gross margin | 70.1% | — |
| Operating margin | 27.3% | 32.1% |
| Net margin | 18.4% | 21.6% |
| Return on equity | 94.5% | 217.2% |
| Return on assets | 11.9% | 26.7% |
| Return on invested capital | 34.0% | 54.2% |
| FCF yield | 6.1% | 1.2% |
| Dividend yield | 1.4% | 0.3% |
| Debt / equity | 1.84 | 3.53 |
| Current ratio | 1.44 | 1.33 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.97 | 6.66 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.