Shares of data storage company NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) fell 7.9% in the morning session after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock's rating to 'Underweight' from 'Equal-weight' and significantly cut its price target.
As the "First Wave" of Artificial Intelligence infrastructure—dominated by raw compute and high-bandwidth memory—matures, the market is turning its attention to the "Second Wave": data gravity. At the heart of this shift is Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), a company that has evolved from a disruptive hardware startup into a software-defined storage powerhouse. As of January [...]
The high-flying data-storage sector, which powered much of the market's gains throughout 2025, hit a significant roadblock in the first week of 2026. After a blistering start to the year, a sharp reversal in storage shares has sent ripples through the technology-heavy Nasdaq, snapping a three-session winning streak and raising
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite faced significant downward pressure this week as the data storage sector, a former darling of the 2025 AI bull market, underwent a sharp and sudden correction. After a massive surge during the first few days of the year, profit-taking in high-flying storage stocks on January 8,
Mid-cap stocks often strike the right balance between having proven business models and market opportunities that can support $100 billion corporations.
However, they face intense competition from scaled industry giants and can be disrupted by new innovative players vying for a slice of the pie.
Business services providers thrive by solving complex operational challenges for their clients, allowing them to focus on their secret sauce. But cutbacks in corporate spending and the threat of new AI products have kept sentiment in check,
and over the past six months, the industry’s 11.4% return has trailed the S&P 500 by 2 percentage points.
A cash-heavy balance sheet is often a sign of strength, but not always.
Some companies avoid debt because they have weak business models, limited expansion opportunities, or inconsistent cash flow.
Shares of data storage company NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) fell 2.7% in the afternoon session after investors rotated out of AI-linked high-flyers following underwhelming earnings updates from Oracle and Broadcom as the core thesis shifted from "growth at any cost" to "prove the returns."
Shares of application security provider F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) jumped 4.2% in the afternoon session after the company announced an expanded collaboration with NetApp to enhance AI application performance and prepare for the post-quantum cryptography era. The partnership combined F5's application delivery and security platform with NetApp's intelligent data infrastructure. This team-up aimed to support the high-performance demands of AI workloads while also strengthening defenses against emerging cybersecurity threats, particularly those posed by future quantum computing advancements. The collaboration built on a long-standing relationship between the two companies and sought to address the growing need for secure and scalable solutions for businesses using AI and S3 storage environments.
As the Q3 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the hardware & infrastructure industry, including NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) and its peers.
NetApp trades at $117.27 and has moved in lockstep with the market. Its shares have returned 13.8% over the last six months while the S&P 500 has gained 14.1%.
Value investing has created more billionaires than any other strategy, like Warren Buffett, who built his fortune by purchasing wonderful businesses at reasonable prices.
But these hidden gems are few and far between - many stocks that appear cheap often stay that way because they face structural issues.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is home to the biggest and most well-known companies in the market, making it a go-to index for investors seeking stability.
But not all large-cap stocks are created equal - some are struggling with slowing growth, declining margins, or increased competition.
NetApp’s third quarter results were met with a positive market reaction, reflecting management’s focus on high-margin segments and operational efficiency. CEO George Kurian pointed to the company’s unified data platform and strong momentum in all-flash arrays and public cloud services as key contributors. He also highlighted that AI-driven infrastructure deals nearly doubled year over year, and that recent product launches—such as AFX and the AI Data Engine—helped address growing customer demand for scalable, secure storage solutions. Kurian emphasized, “Customers are choosing NetApp for our unified data platform that delivers exceptional value and operational efficiencies, fueling our success in the face of the ongoing macro environment.”
