Flash storage pioneer Pure Storage Inc. raised its full-year guidance today, but its stock fell hard in late trading after it failed to beat the market’s expectations in its latest quarterly earnings results.

The company reported third-quarter earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of 58 cents per share, matching the analysts’ consensus estimate. Revenue for the period was better, rising 16% from a year earlier, to $964.5 million, surpassing the $955.9 million target. The company itself had guided for sales of $950 million to $960 million during the quarter.

All told, Pure Storage delivered a net profit of $54.8 million during the quarter, down slightly from the $63.6 million profit it posted in the year-ago period.

Founded in 2009, Pure Storage specializes in flash-based data storage systems, selling both hardware and the specialized software needed to manage them at scale and in the cloud. The company’s longstanding goal has been to transform data center storage with flash, which is faster, more reliable and scalable than traditional disk-based storage. The company is known primarily for its all-flash storage arrays and FlashBlade systems for high-performance workloads, while its most popular software offering is Portworx, which provides tools for managing software containers and enhances cloud-native data protection.

Pure Storage Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Giancarlo (pictured) hailed what he said was “another strong quarter” for the company as it continues to make progress in artificial intelligence. “Competitive advantage in the AI era demands data accessibility,” he said. “Pure’s Enterprise Data Cloud breaks data free from application silos, allowing enterprises to harness the power of AI, automation, and analytics.”

The company followed its results by raising its full-year revenue guidance. It said it’s now looking for fiscal 2026 sales of between $3.63 billion and $3.64 billion, up from an earlier range of between $3.6 billion and $3.63 billion. That means its guidance now exceeds Wall Street’s target of $3.62 billion in annual sales. For the current quarter, Pure Storage sees revenue coming to between $1.02 billion and $1.04 billion. The midpoint of that range also exceeds the Street’s target, with analysts looking for $1.02 billion.

The company said it saw growth in both of its main business segments during the quarter. Its product revenue soared from $454.7 million one year earlier to $534.8 million at the end of the quarter, while subscription revenue came to $429.7 million, up from just $376.3 million in the year-ago period.

Overall, it was another solid quarter for Pure Storage, but investors were clearly hoping for more. The company’s stock had gained almost 7% during the regular trading session as expectations of a blowout quarter rose, but those gains were quickly wiped out when it failed to meet that bar, and it’s now down 10% after-hours.

Steve McDowell of NAND Research told SiliconANGLE that the market is likely overeacting to Pure Storage’s earnings miss and its lower margins, which were attributed to higher-than-expected investments by the company as it attempts to reorganize its business to address emerging AI and neocloud markets. “Charlie said those investments will continue into the next year, and that is likely making Wall Street nervous,” he said. “The market is already skittish on the AI boom and how long it will last and what that means for infrastructure companies like Pure Storage.”

Still, the analyst said that investor’s fears are likely overblown, as Pure Storage is making very smart investments and is not pinning its future growth prospects exclusively on AI. It’s growing a very promising neocloud and hyperscaler business that’s hitting internal targets. Notably, its revenue was up 16%, outpacing rivals such as Dell Technologies Inc. and NetApp Inc., which only posted low single-digit growth numbers last month.

According to McDowell, the only real cause for concern is the growing demand for NAND flash memory chips, which are vital components of the company’s flash storage products. High demand this year has led to soaring NAND prices, with the cost of some products up more than 60%, and there are growing concerns over shortages. But the analyst said Pure Storage is passing those cost increases onto its customers, so it’s not taking a margin hit.

“It’s the right call by Pure Storage, though it may temper some enterprise purchasing decisions and impact its future revenue,” McDowell warned. “But this is not just a problem for Pure Storage. It’s an industry-wide challenge that affects every storage player, and it’s something the market needs to watch.”

Despite the latest slump, Pure Storage has been one of the most solid performers among the storage industry pure-plays this year, and its stock is still up more than 54% in the year to date.

Photo: SiliconANGLE