- Stating his firm's latest storage reseller checks point to "continued weakness for NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP)," UBS' Steve Milunovich has downgraded to Sell and cut his target by $4 to $30.
- Milunovich: "All FAS [storage] products scored below zero on a strong-weak scale. NetApp's FlashRay all-flash offering is still not generally available. Most concerning, the Dec quarter outlook registered the lowest score ever." He adds Gartner has lowered NetApp's position in its disk array Magic Quadrant - NetApp is still one of seven firms in the "Leaders" quadrant.
- On the bright side, Milunovich likes NetApp's Clustered Data ONTAP software solution for its FAS arrays, is pleased with new CEO George Kurian's efforts to redeploy resources, and thinks the Dell/EMC deal could present near-term opportunities to grab share. However, he's worried EMC could grab share long-term as it begins selling through Dell channels, and believes Office 365's growth is also a threat, given NetApp filers are often used for e-mail storage.
- Separately, storage analyst Mark Peters provides a fairly positive take on NetApp's Data Fabric strategy (involves pairing NetApp arrays with software for managing both on-premise and cloud storage) after attending the 2015 NetApp Insight conference.
- Peters: "Now of course the Data Fabric isn’t a simple SKU – but then neither is it simply PowerPoint-ware; it is one of the most compelling and comprehensive 'data anywhere and everywhere, single management, cloud-inclusive' constructs you’ll find ... the idea is in line with some of the more forward thinking startups that you would've thought of. Really, NetApp seems to have the right technology and the right strategy ... It's just in their court to execute."