NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) had a pretty stellar Tuesday evening, with shares climbing after the data storage company dropped second-quarter results that handily beat Wall Street's expectations. Both the top and bottom lines came in stronger than analysts anticipated, and the market responded accordingly.

Breaking Down the Numbers

NetApp posted quarterly earnings of $2.05 per share, comfortably ahead of the $1.89 consensus estimate. Revenue reached $1.71 billion for the quarter, topping the Street's $1.69 billion projection.

But the real story sits in the details. The company's all-flash array business pulled in $1 billion during the quarter, marking 9% year-over-year growth and putting it on track for an annualized revenue run rate of $4.1 billion. That's the kind of momentum investors like to see.

The cloud story looks even more compelling. Public cloud revenue hit $171 million in Q2, with first-party and marketplace storage services jumping 32% compared to the same period last year. And billings reached $1.65 billion, up 4% year-over-year—marking the eighth straight quarter of year-over-year growth. Consistency matters in this business.

What Management Is Saying

"Through strong execution and operational discipline, we delivered an outstanding second quarter with revenue growth driven by strong demand for our AI solutions, first-party and marketplace cloud storage services, and all-flash offerings," said CEO George Kurian.

Translation: The AI wave isn't just hype for NetApp—it's driving actual revenue. Companies building out AI infrastructure need massive amounts of storage, and NetApp is positioned to capture that demand.

Looking Ahead

NetApp raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $7.75 to $8.05, compared to the previous $7.75 estimate. The company maintained its revenue guidance of $6.63 billion to $6.88 billion for the full year, versus analyst expectations of $6.76 billion.

Shares responded predictably, climbing 4.06% to $116.01 in extended trading Tuesday.