Seagate Technology vs Western Digital

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Seagate Technology and Western Digital side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Western Digital is the larger business, with $12.9B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $12.2B for Seagate Technology.
Western Digital grew revenue faster (35.7%, against 34.1%).
Western Digital kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (34.5% operating margin, against 33.6%).
Western Digital turned more of its sales into free cash flow (27.2% FCF margin, against 25.5%).
Seagate Technology earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (92.0%, against 52.2%).

Who comes out ahead

Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Seagate Technology

STX

5/11

5-year growthReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change

Western Digital

WDC

6/11

Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginNet debt / EBITDA

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	STX FY26	WDC FY26
Size
Market cap	$147.5B	$136.8B
Revenue	$12.2B	$12.9B
Free cash flow	$3.1B	$3.5B
Net income	$3.2B	$9.4B
Growth
Revenue growth	34.1%	35.7%
5-year growth	2.7%	−5.3%
Share count change	5.5%	6.7%
Profitability
Gross margin	45.6%	48.9%
Operating margin	33.6%	34.5%
Net margin	26.1%	73.0%
FCF margin	25.5%	27.2%
Return on capital	92.0%	52.2%
Return on equity	371.5%	133.0%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$1.9B	−$527M
Net debt / EBITDA	0.4x	−0.1x
Dividends and buybacks	$810M	$2.8B
Valuation & quality
P/E	—	13.8x
Piotroski F-score	8	7

Ten years

Revenue

FY17

STX $10.8B

WDC $19.1B

FY18

STX $11.2B

WDC $20.6B

FY19

STX $10.4B

WDC $16.6B

FY20

STX $10.5B

WDC $16.7B

FY21

STX $10.7B

WDC $16.9B

FY22

STX $11.7B

WDC $18.8B

FY23

STX $7.4B

WDC $6.3B

FY24

STX $6.6B

WDC $6.3B

FY25

STX $9.1B

WDC $9.5B

FY26

STX $12.2B

WDC $12.9B

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

STX WDC

Operating margin

FY17

STX 9.8%

WDC 10.2%

FY18

STX 14.6%

WDC 17.5%

FY19

STX 14.3%

WDC 0.5%

FY20

STX 12.4%

WDC 2.0%

FY21

STX 14.0%

WDC 7.2%

FY22

STX 16.8%

WDC 12.7%

FY23

STX −4.6%

WDC −8.8%

FY24

STX 6.9%

WDC −6.4%

FY25

STX 20.8%

WDC 24.5%

FY26

STX 33.6%

WDC 34.5%

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

STX WDC

Free cash flow

FY17

STX $1.5B

WDC $2.9B

FY18

STX $1.7B

WDC $3.4B

FY19

STX $1.2B

WDC $671M

FY20

STX $1.1B

WDC $177M

FY21

STX $1.1B

WDC $752M

FY22

STX $1.3B

WDC $758M

FY23

STX $626M

WDC −$1.2B

FY24

STX $664M

WDC −$781M

FY25

STX $818M

WDC $1.3B

FY26

STX $3.1B

WDC $3.5B

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

STX WDC

Return on capital

FY17

STX 23.8%

WDC —

FY18

STX 32.1%

WDC 10.1%

FY19

STX 33.7%

WDC 0.4%

FY20

STX 30.0%

WDC 1.6%

FY21

STX 33.1%

WDC 6.7%

FY22

STX 76.5%

WDC 10.3%

FY23

STX −13.8%

WDC −2.6%

FY24

STX 10.8%

WDC −2.0%

FY25

STX 56.7%

WDC 19.0%

FY26

STX 92.0%

WDC 52.2%

FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

STX WDC

Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.