Seagate Technology vs Western Digital
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The short version
- 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%).
| Latest fiscal year | STX · FY26 | WDC · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $144.4B | $132.0B |
| 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 | — | 13.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 7 |
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
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%
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
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%
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.